The King Of Shadows
by immortalgod
Summary: What would happen if Caroline turned off her emotions and ended up in New Orleans? How would Klaus react if the woman he loved conspired against him? What will happen when Caroline decides to reveal to everyone where her heart truly lies? How will Klaus react to this revelation?Will he let her go if she wants to? I suppose you have to read to find out... ;) Don t forget to review..
1. PROLOGUE

The King Of Shadows

PROLOGUE

Nick-Klaus Michelson stormed into the "palace" of a house that rose discretely among others in the French Quarter`s darkest spot. After the failed attempt to kill his father - or rather, the man he long time ago thought was his father– he demanded to be left alone, a request denied by his eldest brother Elijah, who remained by his side, as he tore the New Orleans's witch community apart to sent a message to his rather hateful, murderous mother, who also wished his death.

"Dear Lord!" exclaimed Hayley as the father of her child past though her hurrying to his room. "Did you bathed in their blood after killing them?! I suppose I should be angry you didn't take me along, you know how I enjoy a good witch hunt!"

"Not now Hayley!" he responded.

"Klaus wait!" she demanded standing in front of him.

"Get out of my _**way**_!" he growled screaming the last word out loud.

"Or what?! You`ll kill me too?!"

"Hayley… My brother had a rather brutal day and is utterly furious right now." Elijah intervened. "I trust we both know how Nick-Klaus`s temper responds to brutality…So… I suggest you'd step down!"

"I have some surprising news, I think you`d like to know…" she said at least ignoring the boys completely.

"Oh really?!" mused Klaus. "Do you happen to have a way for me to kill one of my beloved parents?!"

"No. But I have a visitor for you…" she said smiling slyly. "A blast from the past I presume…"

"Elijah, remove her, or ill remove her heart from her chest and feed it to her werewolf-dogs of a pack!" he threatened passing by her furious once more, but Hayley knew better than to believe he would make good of his promise. She knew she was part of the family now and that gave her the authority to smile and responded as if nothing happened and to get away with her wit.

"So what should I say to her?" she insisted.

"Good riddance?! Go to hell?! Find something dramatic!" he shouted as he took the stairs one by one.

"Seriously?! Is this the way you treat all of your guests" he heard a sweet feminine voice that stopped him dead on his feet, before he reached the top of the stairs. He did of course knew who she was only by the tone of her voice and he was not expecting her.

The king of the French Quarter glanced down and was equally confused and excited to see her. The blond angel like girl stood by the fountain, her hands crossed on her chest in a failed attempt to look angry, considering she was excited. Her blonde curls were illuminated by the contained sunlight in the room and her green eyes and childlike face radiating light and optimism, two things he absolutely needed in that moment of darkness. And in that instant he knew why he automatically linked with her the first time he saw her, she represented something that was momentarily taken from him, the moment they take his daughter, she represented hope…

"So does that mean I have travelled all the way from Mystic Falls for nothing?! Or will you still make good of your promise about showing me what the world has to offer?" she asked ever sweetly.

"Caroline…" he pronounced her name with amusement and aw. He leaned over the stairwells, feeling his smile ease his face for the first time in a string of awful days. "I knew you`d come to me one day… but I haven't been expecting you so soon…"

"Good…" was her answer.

She then smiled with the sweetest smile, melting the hard walls and easing the pain just a little bit for the damaged King of Shadows. Nick-Klaus Michelson was officially flattered and hopeful, and that made him the most dangerous Original Hybrid King in the world. His royal enemies were officially screwed!

Or, so he thought…


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1: SWITCH**

Caroline Forbes sat on the porch of her house in Mystic Falls, the town she so eagerly tried to free from "the-supernatural-magic-free-border" as she, so judgmentally, liked to call it. She breathed in the fresh air and enjoyed the sun on her face, as she withdrew in thoughts that made her melancholic.

"Did you wear sunscreen?" Elena`s cheery voice shouted at her, putting her out of the catacombs of her mind.

"Why, are you worried I`ll burn to death?" she responded faking a smile for her best friend.

"I`m more worried you`ll forget to do normal things like putting a sunscreen, brushing your teeth, calling your friends, especially when you`ve ignored them like… I don't know… thirty times?!…" she said angrily holding her cell phone in front of her friend`s face so she could see the ignores.

Caroline frowned.

"I didn't realized it ringed so many times…" she said lost in thoughts again

Elena took her time to sit by her side and closed her eyes enjoying the sun too.

"I remember coming here with Bonnie when I was a kid…" she said cheerfully to the blonde vampire. "I remember having sleepovers, picnics on the grass, fights, laughter, I remember partying, crying…"

Elena went on rumbling on their childhood memories and Caroline relished in relaxing her mind with fonder memories of the past than the ones she was thinking of before her doppelganger friend arrived.

"I even remember…"

"Elena, stop! ..."she said at least. "I know, what you`re doing. Just tell me honestly what you want to know."

"I want to know, why, Caroline?" she said on the brick of tears. "You`re the eternal optimist, you`re the one who, despite how terrible and unbelievably impossible things seem, you`re the one to insist that they can change. I mean you have grown to be the most pleasant, kind, strong-minded woman as a vampire. You were the one who went for a party when the world seemed ready to collapse, to put a smile on peoples face and even if you feel sad, to make others laugh and-"

"Wait a second, is that why you came here to ask me why I don't **pretend** to be happy?" said Caroline shouting out of her place and staring down at her friend. "Because the answer is simple… I am tired Elena!" her voice broke in the middle of the last sentence. "I am tired of portending!"

After all this time of holding it in, hiding it, Caroline let go her rage, not holding anything back, astonishing her friend even more. "Stefan is gone, after he flatly admitted he isn't _that_ into me. Tyler officially declared he despises me, my mom is gone all day with Alaric – who by the way killed my father, intentionally or not- trying to get the next lead for Enzo – my former breakfast buddy, as you called him – to follow, to save Damon and Bonnie, and I miss my best friends! So I`m done pretending, I'm done putting on a good face for everyone else, okay?!..." she then saw the horrified face of her best friend and tried to calm herself down.

"I`m at the breaking point, Elena…" she explained in a low voice and sat back down beside her. "And I don't know what to do about it!"

The brunette teenage girl seemed aged by the outburst and after a long pause that followed, which seemed like centuries but couldn`t be more than a few minutes she dared to glance at her companion.

"Why do you keep shutting me out Caroline?" she asked patting her back. "I`m alive, I`m still here, and yet you don`t speak to me, you`re ignoring me, you`re talking like I died along with bonnie, for God`s sake! I`m hurting too… So, why aren`t you honest with me anymore, the way you`ve been all your life?"

Caroline didn`t answer. What could have she said really? I can`t talk to you because I think you are not the person I spend my whole life being friends with, and I think that you`ve changed after Alaric erased your memories of loving Damon, so you`d stop murdering people?! She couldn`t tell her the truth, so she did what she knew was best by her friend, she held it in, again.

"I know I was harsh when we talked about Stefan and Damon. I know I shouldn`t have said what I did!"

"What? That I am a slut for falling for Stefan because I slept with Damon a few years before?"

"Caroline we both know that it's wrong…" Elena murmured. "They`re brothers for God`s sake!"

"You`re such an hypocrite Elena!" she didn't intended to say that out loud, it just slipped her mouth.

"Why, because for some inexplicable reason I fell for Damon?!" she inquired.

"You know?! How?"

"Stefan spilled the bids… But I don`t remember everything and I`ve decided to trust my alter ago and not to remember…"

"Wait, Stefan told you?! As in you saw him?!" Caroline was angry now and Elena regretted she even mentioned him.

"It was a few days ago, maybe, even a week!" she said on defense.

"He`s not even answering my calls!" she complained.

"Well, at least you know how I feel…" she responded in a failed attempt to lighten the atmosphere.

"Well…" said Caroline, deciding suddenly that she didn`t care. "Maybe I need a new hobby since calling Stefan gets boring anyway…"

On cue to that, Caroline`s phone rang.

It was Enzo and she smiled knowing what his first words would be like.

"Morning gorgeous!" he said making her smile more.

"Don`t you ever get bored of that nickname?" she faked annoyance.

"Why, would you prefer darling? Sweetheart? Love?"

"No, no and definitely no!" she answered half-laughing.

"I`ll stick to gorgeous then!"

"You`re unbelievable!" she exclaimed cheerfully.

"Wait until you have sex with me, to say that, Blondie!"

"Enzo!" she scolded him. Elena smiled and Enzo laughed.

"Look, I called to say I won`t make it for breakfast, just ask your mom."

Caroline could hear a woman talking on speakers on the background.

"Wait, you`re leaving again?!"

"I`m already at the airport, I know you`ll be devastated for not seeing me, but I have to take the next airplane to Egypt. We have a new lead."

"Well, how long will you be gone?"

"I don`t know, maybe a few weeks, or maybe a month…"

"A month?! Seriously?! What am I supposed to do with all that pancakes, and the coffee material?!"

"Don`t worry Care, I`ll be your next breakfast buddy!" said Elena.

"See? No need to make things dramatic."

"Are you calling me a Drama Queen?!"

"No, not yet… Look I`ve got to go. We can fight about this when I`m back…"

"But-" she started saying and realized he had already hung up. Caroline exhaled annoyed.

Elena, who was studying her all this time, prepared herself to say something, then stopped.

"There is something you`re not telling me…" she said at least.

"Why would you think that?!" she said in a small voice.

"First of all, you`re a terrible liar…" they both laughed at that point. "And secondly, I know you, Caroline. So I know when you`re hiding something from me, and I`m guessing what…"

"Don`t guess, whatever it is I`m sure you`re far away from the truth…" she made an attempt to go in the house but Elena had another idea.

"I`m guessing it has something to do with the British men?" she didn't move as she spoke. Caroline, however, turned to look at her.

"It`s only a 50-50 guess on who. The infamous Enzo, or the biggest maddest original vampire known in the world, Klaus?" At that point Elena rose from the porch and faced her friend.

Caroline forced a smile on her face and held her chin up.

"As I said, you`re way out of the point! Enzo, I will miss, a little!"

"True…" Elena admitted.

"Klaus… I don't give a damn about…" she said crossing her hands over her chest.

Elena coughed and looked the other way trying hard to suppress her smile. She really didn't want to pick a fight with Caroline right now.

"Right, Elena?" she asked, almost aching.

"Right, sure, Care… If you say so…"

The blond vampire sighted in exasperation and gestured to her friend to get inside. Right after her back was turned, Elena couldn`t help but mouth "lie" to her best friend`s back and chuckle.

"Enzo called." said Liz Forbs to her guests.

"Let me guess!" said Caroline Dramatically. "He said, the lead was a dead end?..."

"Caroline!" Elena scolded her.

"What?! It`s a mission impossible, we`ve already established that!" she replied.

"You just couldn`t wait to get that line out, could you?!" said the only male company in the house.

Caroline was almost insulted by his talking. It was a proof of pure kindness that she didn't kicked him out of the house or compelled him to be a blood-bag for the night. How dare he speak to her, especially with irony!

"I`m sorry, who are you again?" said Caroline sarcastically. "Oh, wait, I know! You`re the brag!"

"Caroline!"

"Wow, your friend is really below the expectations you built up!" he said back to Elena.

"Excuse me?!" Caroline exclaimed. "I didn`t knew I had to live up to your expectations!"

"All, right, both of you, stop!" Liz intervened, using the Sherriff Forbs' voice.

"But-" it was her daughter that protested.

"I said, both of you, Caroline!" she repeated more sternly.

Offended by her company, the blond vampire found escape when her cell phone rang. She excused herself and half run to the backside garden, using her vamp speed once out of the human sight.

"Hello…" she answered to the unknown number half expecting it to be Stefan. A girl could always hope, right?!

To her disappointment it was a female voice that spoke.

"Caroline, get out of Mystic Falls. Now! Don't pack, you don't have the time. Just take your mother and go straight to Atlanta, where you can…"

"Woo, woo wait! Rebecca, is that you? ..."

" You don`t have time, silly girl!"she exclaimed. "You need to leave, now… And take your mom with you… A friend of mine is waiting for you in Atlanta. Go, find him, I'll find you when you`re secured enough."

"Are you serious?!"

"Your life is in danger Caroline! Yours and probably everyone`s you ever cared about! I made a mistake contacting you that day… And please, please don't mention anything to my brother. Nick would be furious if he finds out I contacted you…"

"But you didn`t… I haven't seen you since… wait a second, did you compelled me to forget?!"

"There`s no time, do as I say!…"

"Why would I ever trust you?!" she asked already walking her way into the house. She did trusted she was telling the truth.

"Because you`re smart and you know I have no reason to lie. And because you`re compelled to run, in case something like that happened" Rebecca`s response was immediate. "Now go! I`ll meet you in a few days to tell you where to head next. Keep your phone close to you, I'll contact you with a different number tomorrow. Be safe!"

Caroline stormed into the room a thousand scenarios passing through her mind. She knew she had to leave, she didn`t knew why but she trusted Rebecca was telling the truth for once.

"Mom, we have to-" she begun saying but stopped the instant she noticed the change in the room.

She saw a middle-age, dark haired woman, burning a plant on the table which was clear of food since it was on the floor. The woman kept casting a spell. She was covered in black clothes and had a short haircut.

But she was not alone. There was a dark haired teenage boy in the room. He was taller than her and was smiling at her meaningfully.

As for her friends, Brag was unconscious on the floor, her mother was sitting on the chair and Elena was giving the boy the evil eye.

Caroline caught and regained her strength to face them.

"I`m sorry, I don't recall you being on the guest list…" said she, not losing her wits just yet!"

The dark haired woman smiled to her as the boy spoke up.

"I was right, you really look like a taste…" said he.

"Excuse me? Do I know you?" Caroline turned to him.

"I think you don`t remember me at the moment, darling." Said the boy getting closer to her than she would want him to. "But I remember my brother has a thing for you… After all, he did threaten to tear out my leaver just for having dirty thoughts about you…" at the last words he grabbed her hand, pulling her closer…

"Oh, my god!" she whispered finally understanding.

"Koll stop playing games." Said the lady who had just stopped burning the plant. "And go help your brother."

The boy obeyed releasing Caroline`s hand and glancing at her as he walked away.

"As you wish mother…" he replied on his way out.

"You`re Ester…" said Elena breaking out of her haze. "How is that possible?"

"You are a doppelganger Elena, you should know everything in this world is possible for a witch…" she responded.

"Is that so?!" said Caroline bitterly. "So you`re saying that it is possible for Damon and Bonnie to come back to this world after they died and the other side was destroyed?!"

Ester laughed. An unpleasant laugh it was. "I think the key word to your unspoken question is 'time'. But in my case, the same word is a disaster. I`m running out of it, and my secret weapon is too…"

"Is this the part where you explain why you invaded our house uninvited?" asked the Sherriff.

"Not to mention, completely destroyed the carpet my dad bout us." said Caroline taking the charge stepping forward and demanding to know her diabolical plans.

"Dear Lord, you are annoying, Caroline. And not the best choice to suit my beloved son. Had they mention what I did to one of the girls he choose and I didn't approve, or should I enlighten you?"

"I think I`ll pass, I don`t care about Klaus`s ex girlfriends. I just want to know what the hell do you want from us?"

"Too shame, because one of Klaus`s former girlfriends is the reason you`re in trouble. I`m looking for the baby, Caroline…" said the woman sitting on the couch like it was a throne.

"What baby?" she asked genuinely surprised.

"Should we do this the nice way or the hard way?"

"Do it with whichever way you want it, I don`t know anything about any baby!"

"You`ve spent half of the summer trying to find a witch coven in Organ, a witch named Lucy, a Bennett witch descendant to be exact, was with this coven. She was the closest thing to a friend of Rebecca`s back in 17th century. She preserved herself with an aging spell since she was six. And after a visit from you two months ago, she went missing, just as Rebecca is missing a few months now. I strongly believe, that my son has been deceitful and that my granddaughter is still alive. My task is to find her and to kill her and if anyone should get in my way I should kill whomever that is… So I`ll ask again, where is she?!"

"Wow…I already knew you were nominating for the worst mother of the year, but now I know you`ll win the grandmother`s title too!" said Elena sarcastically.

"If you would do me the kindness of keeping your mouth shut, my dearest doppelganger, I shall be most grateful." Said the witch.

"Well, I don`t know where the baby is…" said Caroline. "I didn`t even knew Rebecca had a child, how is that possible?!"

"It`s not Rebecca`s, it`s Nick-Klaus`s daughter…"

Caroline was taken aback, she did not expected that. However she regained control for once more to say:

"I don`t know where they are. I haven`t heard from Rebecca, in over a year…"

"I strongly doubt that considering you just spoke to my daughter!"

"I`m telling the truth, ok?! I don`t know where they are!" the blonde repeated. "And even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you. I wouldn`t of helped you kill an innocent child, Klaus`s or not!"

Ester rose from where she sat and Caroline took a step back.

"I wish you understood how much you disappointed me. Maybe this…" she snapped her fingers and Liz Forbs fall from her chair unconscious. "… will shed some light…"

"No!" screamed Caroline and flew to where her mother fell. Elena rose and stared at the unconscious Sherriff. Caroline tried to find a pulse. "She has no pulse! Elena, I can`t find a pulse! What the hell did you do to her!" she shouted to Ester.

Caroline tried to attack the middle-aged witch but Elena stopped her knowing she was probably putting her life in danger. Caroline fought against her crying and kicking, but it was in vain. Ester looked at her with the most indifferent and cold glare.

"Let that be your lesson, little girl. Find out where Rebecca is and I won't kill anyone else you care about."

"What did you do to my mom, you sadistic bitch?!" she yelled half crying.

"Come now, Caroline, that is not a way to speak to your almost-mother-in-law…" she said smiling. "If you want answers you`ll come find me in New Orleans."

With her last words she disappeared leaving a shattered Caroline crying over her mother`s body and a desperate Elena trying to comfort her, in vein.

"This isn`t happening! This can`t be happening!" she kept telling while crying. "Mom, please… Please, mom, wake up! I`m sorry, I`m so sorry… I couldn`t protect you! This is my fault, this is all my fault! I did this!"

"No Care! None of this is your fault…" Elena comforted her but that only made her angrier.

"Yes it is! It is entirely on me. I did this by bringing magic in Mystic Falls again… If I hadn`t…"

"Caroline stop! This is Ester`s doing, not yours!"

"No, no, no… this can`t be it! She can`t be dead, Elena please tell me this isn't happening!… Mom, please, please, don`t leave me! Mommy, please…"

"Caroline, hey, hey… it will be ok. You`ll be fine…"

So it went on. Caroline kept crying and Elena kept comforting her. Until it became unbearable, until she couldn`t stand the pain her mother`s death caused. She always knew that someday this would`ve happened. But she wasn't expecting it to be so soon. It was too soon for her mother to die. And her feelings only got worse when she remembered that the next day was the day her father has died. That hit her harder and all these emotions, all these feelings she were pressing in, came rushing out consuming her, overwhelming her body and mind… She was trembling, crying, cursing, but the rage wouldn`t go…. She felt alone, abandoned, fallen apart and above all scared.

A considerable amount of time went on, but she still couldn't help herself. She then realized that there was only one logical turn to take, on that moment of despair. Only one way she could take this pain in, and survive. She knew it was wrong, but at this moment she saw it as the only logical solution, the only way to stop the pain, and she would do just about anything to stop it. So, she did something she would regret in the future, something that would hunt her for the eternity, something she would be ashamed of. She didn't think it twice.

She turned her humanity switch off.


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2: SEDUCTION**

_**K**_laus was just finishing one of his drawings of Caroline when Elijah walked into his room and closed the door behind him.

"Dear brother! To what do I own the pleasure?" asked the young Michelson not taking his eyes off the sketch he was drawing.

"I would like to be informed about how long this young lady, will be staying with us."

"Her name is Caroline, and she will stay as long as I want her to…"

"Forgive me if I`m wrong, but since the day this girl arrived you`ve been… distant, distracted and Hayley was turned to be even more brutal than she used to be. Especially now that we finally managed to get her humanity back, this girl appears and destroys everything we have fought for!"

"Do you think that I`m indifferent to the fact that Hayley is turning to the dark side, especially when that affects our alliance to the werewolves pack?! I do care, Elijah but right now I have my own demons to deal with and that girl is the closest thing to light I have…"

"Our mother is onto us, our father is constantly trying to reach her and we both know that it would be a disaster if he succeeds. What demons could be worse than our own parents trying to kill us!"

"I can handle our parents?!"

"Can you? Please elaborate…"

"Enough, Elijah!" he yelled getting on his feet and throwing the sketchbook on the couch. "I will take care of them whenever I want to, I have my witches scanning the earth for a solution, they will be out of the picture soon enough…"

"And what about Hayley?…" he asked quietly.

The youngest Michelson laughed.

"Ah, brother! We are both so alike! …"he said touching his arm. "Great minds at battle strategy and fools in love… Hayley is looking up to you. We may have a temporary connection considering our resent loss but it`s you she will listen to… Caroline however…"

He then turned around and headed to the fireplace…

"At least convince her to turn her humanity on. At least make her obey to our rules! She almost exposed us today by feeding publicly…"

"Well, how fortunate you were around to cover up for her, then!" he responded smiling.

"You will think differently if I tell you who she was feeding from…"

"Some lowlife fellow I presume… " he said taking the bourbon bottle to pour a drink.

"Perhaps… if you`re calling your young little bartender friend a 'lowlife'. Camille, isn't it?"

"No…"said Klaus and the glass collapsed in between his hand. "She didn`t!"

"Ask her!"

Klaus was in no time out of the room and into Caroline's place. The last one had just gotten out of shower and was wearing nothing but a towel.

"Hey, I know you`ve seen me naked before but it`s still polite to knock- "she managed to say before he interrupted her.

"What the hell did you do to Cami?!" he asked infuriated.

"Who the hell is that?!" she inquired.

"Elijah told me you tried to kill her!"

"Ah, the dinner girl… Yeah, so?!" she said indifferently while leaning casually to put a cream on her bare legs.

Klaus couldn`t help but notice how perfect skin she had.

"This isn`t you, Caroline…" he murmured distracted.

"It`s not a big deal, Nick-Klaus. We`re vampires, it's what we do, and you`re the last person I would expect to lecture me about feeding-"

"What did you called me?" he said in a weird tone.

"Am… Nick-Klaus?" she said hesitantly . "I know, it`s weird, but Elijah kind of… keeps saying it. And I got used to it… well, it sounded really weird coming from me… I should stick to Klaus…"

Klaus wanted to tell her to repeat it. For some reason he liked the way she pronounced his full name. But instead he tried to contain himself and managed to remember why he was there in the first place.

"Camille is off limits for you, or anyone in this town. She`s a friend of mine and you are not allowed to harm her…" he said at least. "You can drink, torture and kill whomever else you want as long as you keep it quiet and don`t expose yourself and my kingdom. Have I made myself clear?"

"One thing is certainly clear…" she responded straightening and dropping the cream bottle on the bed. "You`re no fun anymore… I`m standing here, practically naked and you are talking to me about rules and bartenders… When we can be doing things that have much more fun…" and with the last words she dropped down the towel exposing herself to him.

Klaus`s eyes scanned her body and was suddenly stroked with lust for it. He however managed to look away and command her to get dressed. But when he tried to leave the room she disobeyed him, using her vamp speed to stand in front of him.

"Get out of my way, love." He commanded , too amused to sound angry.

"Or what?" she provoked him.

"Don`t play games with me… I`m the one who puts up all the rules…" he warned smiling wildly.

"So you`re telling me you don`t want me?"

"No, I'm telling you, I`m not going to take advantage of you in the state you are."

"Oh, come on. We both want it… I turned my humanity off, so that means I`m simply doing what I want now. Without guilt, fear or remorse…"

Klaus tried his best not to succumb to the sirens and failed.

"Hey, if you can`t do this…" she said after a long pause, pulling the towel from the floor and putting it on her while she spoke. "I`ll find someone who can…"

She didn't managed to finish the sentence cause she found herself pinned against the wall with Klaus hovering over her. And boy, was he mad?!

"Don`t even think about it!" he whispered sending chills over her entire body.

"That`s more like it…" she said out of breath.

"Listen to me very carefully, I am not joking Caroline. From the moment you walked on my door and gave yourself to me, you became **mine. **Your body… Your soul… All of you belongs to me now. You know the one thing I won`t forgive is betrayal and since I can`t dagger you for centuries… Your punishments will be more cruel than sleeping in a coffin!" his tone would scare the bravest man but Caroline only smiled.

"God, you`re hot when you`re angry!" was all she said before Nick-Klaus Michelson tore the towel away and make good of his promise.

_**C**_aroline Forbs was on the bar, dancing wildly with a bottle of half emptied Bourbon in her hand, while Marcel Gerard was entertaining the crowd by singing and gesturing to the drunk lady on the bar. They were both enjoying themselves enormously by the time the king of the Quarter got there, so they missed his surprised and amused face when he noticed them.

When he recovered from the shock of seeing them in that state- especially Caroline – he headed to the bar, choosing purposively the area she wasn`t dancing, so he could enjoy her from distance and fulfill his task.

"Same as usual I presume?" said Camille the-brave-bar-tender, just the person he came to see.

"Red wine…" he said still staring at the dancing girl. "I see you`re having quite a feast today…" he commented.

"Yeah… She`s unbelievable. This is the second Bourbon bottle she finished and she`s still standing on her feet!" said Camille amazed.

"She is quite… exquisite… " he muttered as he took a sip from the wine. "And dangerous…"

Cami eyed him suspiciously and decided against saying anything. She just smiled secretly and went back to staring at her.

"You`re not on vervain" asked Klaus suddenly as she poured him another drink few minutes later.

"Yes, of course I am." Said Camille a little taken aback. "Why would you say that?"

Klaus smiled and looked her in the eyes. His pupils dilated.

"I think you should give that girl a tequila shot that`s on the house." He said.

Cami looked confused for a little while but then did what she was told. Caroline took the drink gratefully and drunk it while looking at him devilishly.

Cami returned all confused and angry.

"Did you just-?"

"Compelled you?" he finished her sentence, also angry. "Yes! Which means someone stopped you from drinking your daily dose!"

He then shot a killer glare to the blond vampire who headed to the ladies room and drunk the wine at once.

"Listen Cami, you need to go and put some vervain on you, now…" he said. "I want to know exactly what she`s doing here and I need you to be my spy once more…"

"Absolutely no! I`m not going to-"

"Do you want me to compel you again?!" he yelled at her.

"Take it easy man!" said Marcel stepping in.

"Mind your own business!" Klaus shouted at him.

"She _is_ my business. And you might need to step down on this…"

"I`m trying to protect her you fool! She`s not on vervain, someone is using her and I want to know who… I`m trying to protect all of us!"

"By threatening her?!"

"Caroline drunk from her yesterday. That means, she knows she`s out of vervain. I would actually go as far to say that she`s the one that got her out of it, knowing that she`s in our trusted circle."

"You think that girl is fooling you?" Cami asked. "Then why don't you-?"

"Kill her?" Klaus finished her question and then laughed. "I don`t trust my own reflection Cami… Tell me, should I kill myself?"

They all went silent for a moment.

"I`ll do it!" said Cami at least. "I`ll spy for you."

"What? No!" protested Marcel.

"If this girl is a spy, and uses me for something, then I`m already in danger!" she said. "I might as well be in danger for a good reason…"

"I`ll contact a witch to make you one of the daylight rings. It`ll protect you from the worst." Murmured Klaus as she got ready to leave. "Thank you, Cami…"

"Just be careful…" said Marcel before she left.

After a silent moment Marcel spoke again.

"I don`t get it man… If you suspect her for being a spy why don`t you compel her to tell you…"

"Because, if she is with our enemy she is probably on vervain…"

"So, drain her of blood… compel her to be on our side."

"Do you think me as a fool?" said Klaus leaning over the bar, closer to his companion. "You think I haven`t thought of that?! But if this is what I think it is, then my mother is involved. And she has some tricks about compulsion… She`s probably putted a protection spell on her and if she even smells I suspect her she`ll kill her instantly…"

"So the point. You do the same anyway. If she`s a spy…" said Marcel. "Forgiveness is not your strong suite."

"Perhaps… " said Klaus sadly. "But she`s forgiven me so many times, for so many things… I feel like I own her… And besides, if anyone is going to kill her, it might as well be me!" he added finishing the third glass of wine.

"Give it up for Marcel Gerard!" said Caroline on the speakers startling the two conspirators. She stood at the stage like she owned it and demanded the attention of every male in the bar, which she already had.

"You don`t mind if I steal your glory just for a few minutes, do you?" she asked already taking the microphone.

"The stage is all yours, baby!" he responded smiling.

If it was anyone else flirting with Caroline this way, he would have slit his throat, just for sport. But he knew better than to think his companion would ever think about stealing his girl.

"I mean I know that my boyfriend practically stole your throne… but don`t worry, I won`t steal your job!" she said meanly and winked at him.

"Please tell me you`re planning on killing her!" he whispered to Klaus.

"Patience… Marcellus!" he whispered back.

She sang and played with the crowd like a true show woman and Klaus enjoyed every single moment of it. But the ending of the song was accompanied by someone shouting.

"Somebody help!" he screamed and everyone in the room turned to look at the door. The only two who looked the other way was Klaus and Marcel. They knew what it was… They could smell the blood and they knew exactly who was responsible for the bloodshed.

Caroline smiled to the boys and leaked her lips purposively.

"Yummy…" she mouthed.

Klaus was on his feet compelling the guards to let everyone out from the back door and yelling to Marcel not to let Caroline escape.

He went out to find Cami on the ground, covered in blood and a boy leaning over her.

"You will forget everything you saw here tonight and leave immediately…" he said to the boy.

He didn`t lose any time then. He fed his blood to the human girl and carried her back in the bar when everyone else had left. Everyone but the two vampires.

Caroline was sitting on the table close to the stage looking bored, and Marcel was hovering nervously close to her.

"Cami!" he shouted the moment he saw who was Klaus carrying.

"I`m fine." she said when Klaus put her on one of the chairs.

"I`m going to kill you!" he said speeding to Caroline who just smiled to him provokingly.

"Relax, Marcellus…" Klaus stopped him.

"Relax?! She attacked her, Klaus! I`m going to-"

"You are going to do as I say, Marcellus!" he threatened. "You deal with your girl, while I deal with mine…"

Marcel glared daggers at the blonde female but eventually obeyed to his friend and went close to Cami, asking her about her health while Klaus tried very hard not to kill the woman he has been waiting for, for so long.

"What did I said about the _**rules**_!" he yelled the last word as he turned around to face her.

"All right!" said Caroline jumping down from the table. "Let's get one thing straight… I`m not the girl that was afraid of you, anymore! I am not scared of your yelling…"

"And that`s incredibly stupid of you!" said Marcel. "You don`t know what he`s capable of…"

"Oh, I know exactly what he`s capable of…" she whispered only few inches away from his lips. "I know he can`t kill me… He cares too much… He`s weak…" she laughed at that point and broke away to take a sip from her glass.

Klaus got to it first and threw it across the room.

"Hey!" Caroline protested, but she didn`t get to say much cause Klaus was on her, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her closer.

Feeling his anger radiating off of him made the girl to actually flinch. And in spite everything she had just said, she was scared of him.

"Listen very carefully love, I have never been good at handling my temper. I, however managed to gain some sort of control over it so I wouldn`t murder the people I care about, but you are crossing any line I have ever drawn and believe me it's into your best interests to hope right back in it!" he threw her on the chair and made a gesture to Marcel and Cami to leave them. So they did. "I may care about you, Caroline, but if you don`t obey my rules, I will have no other choice but to punish you…"

"This is ridiculous!" she shouted standing up again. "I am not one of your slaves!"

"You are not, but in this town I am your **King**!" he screamed the word out loud and Caroline grabbed the table behind her as Klaus closed in. "And you are my subject. You are going to play by the rules or bare the consequences."

He then putted his hands on the table, trapping her in his arms as he whispered his next threats.

"I won`t show you mercy, Caroline." he then looked at her. "Have I made myself understood?"

Caroline smiled with the sweetest smile as she said: "Perfectly…"

"But…" she continued catching his face in her palm as he tried to walk away. "I was hoping… you`d punish me for what I did today…" she whispered her lips inches away from his.

Klaus was amazed by the fact that his anger was so easily turned into something entirely different, something stronger, lust…

"So, help me Caroline… if you betray me…" he whispered on her lips.

"Mmm... We can talk later… " she whispered too.

He let Caroline play a little with his lips and the buttons of his shirt, and then he took over, showing her how truly merciless he could be…

_**M**_eanwhile a certain original witch was plotting and planning the downfall of the king of shadows.

"Everything is ready to go, mother!" said Finn, walking in the room.

"Not yet…" she said while looking to a weird wooden circle like it was some kind of exciting object.

"Oh, come on now mother!" complained the youngest boy. "It`s getting boring here… "

"We are not here to entertain ourselves Koll!" Finn chastised him.

"Go to hell Finn!"

"I already am, if I have to put up with you, every day!"

"You make me wish I made alliance with Nick-Klaus. At least he knows how to have fun!"

"How dare you! You little-"

"Enough! Both of you!" yelled Ester at least. "Finn, don`t stood his level. Koll… You are most welcome to go back in the land of the dead if you`re having any ideas of crossing me… But choose sides carefully… Nick-Klaus is about to lose this war… He is too distracted discovering the art of female seduction while we have an advantage…" with her last words she smiled.

"And what is that mother?" asked Finn.

Ester turned to face her sons smiling.

"I know where your niece is…"

**NEXT CHAPTER: a visitor arrives from Mystic Falls. Caroline is out of control. Klaus has a talk with a stranger that startles him. Camille dies.**

_**Please review if you like the story… thanks for reading…**_


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3: CONSPIRACY**

"You can`t be serious!" said he a little taken aback.

"Why Koll, are you suddenly getting a glimpse of what does the word 'humanity' means?" mused Finn.

"Actually I`m getting a glimpse of how Nick will tear me apart and feed me to some dogs… Mother, I can`t do this!"he repeated.

Ester looked at him with a stern look and kept cooking while she spoke.

"You can, and you will, my son." said she.

"Why don`t you tell Finn to do this…"

"I need him here for my own reasons. And you are supposed to be doing exactly what I`m telling you. Now, pack your bags and go!"

"You said, you were here to heal us from the wounds of the past. I just don`t get how killing an eight moth old baby would help you do it."

"It`s a necessary evil..." she said calmly. "And you don`t have to understand my methods, you just have to do what I say!" she raised her voice at that point stopping for a moment to look at him angrily.

She then got closer to him and looked him in the eyes.

"Let me simplify this for you. Either you kill the baby of you go back to being dead!"

Ester kept her glare steady while Koll flinched.

"Cheers to the grandma of the year!" said Caroline leaning on the door and smiling.

"You`re here early." said Ester turning around.

"Well, I figured the earlier I came the sooner I`d be rid of you."

"Hey there, pretty one!" said Koll eyeing her.

Caroline smiled to him devilishly.

"Koll you have a plane to catch!" Ester reminded him.

"Leaving so soon?" asked Caroline flirtingly faking a disappointed look whole playing with his jacket.

"Well, you`re most welcome to convince me to stay…" he said smiling.

"You`ll be damned if I tried!" she whispered inches away from his face.

"Caroline, stop seducing yet another one of my sons! Koll leave, now!" Ester commanded.

"Too bad Blondie…" said he. "We`ll just have to cancel the fun for tonight…"

"Well, it`s good that we have all eternity to make it up for it, then!" she said still smiling.

"Finn, would you be as kind as to leave us?" asked Ester ever polite, after her younger son left.

Finn obeyed immediately and Ester went back to her work while Caroline hovered around.

"So… " she said finally turning around to face her. "Does that mean you`ve found what you`re looking for?"

"Yes." said the witch.

"Well, the way I see it, I upheld my end of the deal… No it`s your time to give me what I was promised."

"There`s still one thing…"

"No, there is not! I gave you what you wanted!" she said closing in with her hands crossed on her chest.

"I want a lot of things, Caroline." said Ester taking her time to put oil on the food. "For instance, I want you to kill someone, before I give you what you asked me for…"

"It doesn`t work like that!" she said getting considerably closer. "You owe me and I`m here to collect!"

"How about this… I perform the spell I promised you now… And you kill her afterwards…"

Caroline smiled with no intentions of leaving without her gift.

"Deal…" she said. But both of the two women knew she was lying.

**Caroline Forbs **returned to the compound right after midnight with a smile on her face that made the room shine. Or at least that`s what the paranoid King of the Quarter thought looking down at her from the balcony.

"Where have you been, love?" he asked as she step on the stairs slowly.

"At the Roseau's…" she said indifferently. "But I`m leaving tomorrow." She added as she reached the top of the stairs.

"And where do you think you`re going?" he asked smiling slyly.

"I _am_ going to Europe." she said cheerily. "You promised me the world and you locked me in a boring compound. I`m not staying here any more than I have to."

"And you think that I let you go… Just like that?!" he said loosing the smile.

"Oh, pardon me, my lord!" she said smiling angrily. "I forgot to ask your permission to leave… I am not your prisoner Klaus! I`m leaving at first light!" she said sternly.

Caroline started to turn around but suddenly changed her mind and stopped. Instead she faced Nick-Klaus and smiled.

"Will you go with me?!" she asked.

Klaus actually laughed at that and used his vamp speed to stand in front of her. He then tossed her lovely blond curls behind her ear and held his hand there as he spoke.

"I would go till the end of the galaxy with you, Love…" he said seriously. "I would cross seas… Dive mountains…. Chase the sunset flying… I would do anything, go anywhere _you_ are… Just to see the way your smile lit up your face, just to know how every part of the earth looks like to that beautiful green eyes… And so the rest of the world would know that this unique creature is mine for all eternity…"

She could almost fell the words touching her heart. She could feel that part of her that was human, fighting its way out. Like a wild animal trying to escape a burning cage. She momentarily felt… Actually _felt_ his words… And then, just like that, the feelings were gone…

She laughed. Really loud, like Klaus never had heard her laugh before… And even when he knew this was not the real Caroline`s reaction, he was slightly wounded by it.

"I`m sorry…" she said between laughs. "I almost bout it… You do have a sense of humor, don`t you?"

Klaus smiled regrettably. And for the first time since she arrived, he actually wanted her to have her feelings back. To be herself again, and in that moment he was itching to compel her to turn it on, to fell his words were real. The real Caroline would have understood. The real Caroline always understood him…

"Why do I have the feeling there is a 'but' in it…" she said crossing her hands to her chest still smiling.

"Because there is…" he said with his voice deepening. At least she still knew him well… "I want to give you exactly what you want, Caroline, and nothing less… But I have things to take care of… Unfinished business with many, many enemies… And I have to get back at too many people that failed me, so…"

"So I`ll go alone then?" she sounded sincerely disappointed.

"No, we`ll go together…" he responded. "There is no 'I' anymore for either of us… We`ll go together, when I`m done with my business…"

"But I want-"

"End of the story!" he commanded.

"You can`t keep me here!" she pouted.

Klaus only smiled.

"I think we both know I can, love!" he said. "And I will… If you don`t believe me, try to escape… You won`t even make it to the front door without my permission!"

"Ugh! You are so annoying sometimes!" she said turning on her hills.

Klaus caught her wrist and turned her around forcing her on his chest.

"No goodnight kiss?" he asked pouting.

"You don`t deserve it…" she said frowning but he kissed her anyway.

"Now go, and obey!" he warned.

"Yes, master!" she said making the cutest face ever.

For a few minutes he gazed after her and only when he heard the shower, did he jumped to the roof of the compound. The threesome of his most loyal and trusted companions in the town waited for him under the full moon`s light.

Hayley, the brown haired hybrid mother, was excessively beautiful with the moonlight shining on her features and her smart brown eyes always rigid as she sat on the roof. Elijah had already noticed that, of course, along with how provoking did her full red lip, in which she had sunk her teeth, looked. Against his nature and all his wishes he stayed put in his standing position, trying to distract himself by looking at Marcel hovering around, and failing. So he felt purely grateful, when his brother arrived.

"She seemed perfectly nice to me… Maybe too nice for a vampire that has no humanity? …" said Hayley looking at the direction Caroline had left, from above.

"Exactly my thoughts…" said the King of Shadows looking down himself. "And Caroline is known for her charm, especially when she wants to create a distraction…"

"Was it wise to inform her about her imprisonment brother?" inquired Elijah. "We could have guards following her…"

"The guards can`t tell me something I don`t already know…"said Klaus. "I suspect the truth but I have to collect more information to be sure…"

"So, you`re not going to tell us what she`s up to!" declared Marcel.

"I can`t tell you what I don`t know…"he answered and when the others were about to protest he added. "I can only suspect…"

"So why do you call us here? To witness your morbid humiliation?" it was Hayley who spoke.

"For the record, my words have made impact on Caroline…" he responded without flinching. "Maybe not the way I would wish, but she foolishly thinks I bout her story. That`s what I needed. As for why I called you here…"

Klaus took a necklace out of his packet and gave it to Marcel.

"It`s for Cami." He said. "It`ll protect her from death by supernatural beings. I asked the witch to also evoke vervain into it so we could ensure she can`t be compelled. Go, find her, and give it to her."

He hadn`t had to say it twice, Marcel was already gone.

"As for you two…"said Klaus looking to his brother and to the mother of her child. "You need to overcome whatever fight you have in between you and bring in a rather surprising new allay of us. You need to hide him specifically in this place." he said giving the map to Elijah. "Hayley, you stay with him, take your pack with you, you`ll need them to keep an eye on him… Elijah you help her find him and you come back to me, I need you more here. Any questions?"

Hayley raised a hand laughingly…

"Yes, sweetheart?" Klaus mused.

"Am I at least allowed to pack my bags?"

"You have ten minutes…" he barfed.

"Thank you!" she said sarcastically.

They watched her take her leave and then they both kneeled on the edge of the roof that was looking directly into the compound. Klaus looked at the fountain as he whispered the next words in the early fall`s cold and quiet air, so none could hear them.

"Why are you wasting your time, Elijah?" he asked. "she`s yours already, you need to claim her before someone else does."

"How can I think of that when we have so many problems, brother?" he asked.

Klaus laughed again, but his eyes remained blank.

"Love has not a specific time, Elijah." he said and for the first time, his face looked really old… "We, of all people, should know that…"

Elijah remained silent for awhile.

"Are you referring to Tatia or Cassie?" he asked at least.

"Neither…" was his response.

They stayed silenced for a long time while the pure white moonlight shone discretely upon them, ancient and fierce, like the men on the roof.

"Brother, I have to ask…"said Elijah after a long pause. "Were you sincere with that girl earlier?"

Klaus went silent for awhile before he answered. When he finally did, he looked at any other direction but his companion`s.

"You`d be surprised Elijah, if you knew what I did for that girl… And astonished of what I could do to secure her happiness… One thing I most certainly won`t be able to do…" at that point he looked at his eldest brother. "I won`t be able to let her go again… Even if she wants to…"

Elijah understood that he wouldn`t get any more confide words from him, and he didn`t needed to. He understood perfectly the feeling, as he felt the same. Well, except the fact that he wasn`t as paranoid as his little brother about his girl, or more accurately he wasn`t as selfish as the young Michelson.

"What if she really is helping our mother, what if she betrays you brother? Will you be able to end her life?"

Klaus remained silenced. He was able to forgive her once, when she plotted his downfall with her friends. But this Caroline was nothing like her. He, of course, would get the real Caroline back one day, but would he still be able to forgive her for her betrayal? Especially if anything happened to his daughter?

He was lost in thoughts once more. But the pure night`s silence was destroyed by a yelling girl downstairs…

"I`m going to kill her!" it was Hayley who screamed. "Where are you, you lightheaded slutty little thief!"

Klaus and Elijah jumped down to the compound on both sides of the fountain in perfect union. They got in time to stop Hayley from chopping Caroline`s head off. Although it seemed that Caroline had the upper hand.

"I`m older than you and that means I`m stronger!.." she yelled at her as Klaus grabbed her from her waist easily stopping her, while Elijah did the same with Hayley.

"You have, my necklace!" she yelled. "You stole it from me, don`t deny it! Anna saw you wearing it!"

"Well, I saw it on you and I thought I`d do it a favor…" she said shamelessly. "It looks better on me anyway…"

"Where is it!" she yelled.

"God, your annoying!" she threw her the little box she was holding. "Now, can you please get the hell out of my room?! I have thing to do…"

"Don`t ever touch my stuff again…" she threatened. "Or I'll-"

"Or what?!" said the blonde girl raising her voice as well. "You`ll yell at me again?! Oh, I`m terrified!"

"You son of a-!" she cursed and tried to reach at her.

"Hayley that`s enough!" said Elijah, grabbing her.

"Let go!" she yelled before she stormed off the room.

Elijah stared at them for awhile before he raised a hand at Nick-Klaus warningly.

"Discipline her!" he said before he took off.

Klaus let her go hesitantly since she was playing nice, but stayed exactly where he was, with his lips close to her ear and her back on his chest.

"What do you think, love, should I listen to my brother?" he asked with a hint on his voice.

Caroline raced to the door and shut it to close. Within a second she turned around to face him.

"Absolutely…" was all she said, before tearing apart his clothes…

"_**Careful not to break anything!" **_shouted Caroline to the boys carrying the tables. "Someone take care of the candles! What are you looking at?! I`ve told you hundred times where to put these flowers, move!"

Klaus enjoyed the view from the balcony. He liked when she was bossy, domineering, queen-like. He smiled and leaned over the stairwells watching her every move. He could imagine her on his side… He could imagine himself with her… He could even imagine her with his baby…

"You know your last thought requires her to have her emotions back on right? Since I`m convinced neither of us will let her within in a mile around Hope, if she`s like that…"

"Stay out of my head Elijah!" he said straightening. "Do we have any news?"

"Our guest has been… hosted." Said Elijah choosing his words carefully, knowing that the girl was probably eavesdropping.

"All right!" she said looking at them from downstairs. "I`ll leave you alone then… You…" she said the last word looking at the girls. "If you`re not finished by the time I`ll come out of the shower, I'll rip all of your throats out! And, everyone, cheer up a little beat, you`re organizing a party, not a funeral!"

With her last words she turned on her heals and left to her room.

"Isn`t she stunning!" Klaus murmured gazing after her.

"How did she even convince you to let her do this…" asked the eldest brother.

"Women can be really persuasive when they want to be…" said Klaus smiling devilishly. "But don`t worry Elijah I putted up a good argument…"

"Spare me the details, I beg of you! ..." he replied disgusted. "Now, back to business, our brother is-"

"Klaus!" shouted a known female voice and the two brothers looked down, although they already knew who it was. "Where is she?! What did you do to her?!"

"Stop, stop… You need to calm down!" said a second, this time, male voice, also known to the two brothers.

"Calm down?! I`m going to kill him!" she replied.

"Oh really?!" mused Klaus looking from above. "And how exactly are you planning to do that, love? If I remember correctly you`ve already tried and failed a thousand times. And let`s not forget the fact that if I die everyone I`ve ever sired dies along with me, including the two of you…"

"He`s right, Elena… And we don`t even know for sure that she`s here."

"We don`t know for sure?! Liv was pretty convinced we`d find her here!" she replied.

"Stefan!" said Klaus happily. "Could you please explain to us what does this circus means?"

Stefan stepped back away from the devastated girl and looked at Klaus.

"We… Think, Caroline is here… We`ve came to take her home…" he blurted out.

Klaus smiled.

"Meaning you think I`ve abducted her and you`re here to rescue her…" he said.

"Where is she?" said Elena worried. "Please, we need to see her!"

"I can assure you my dear that the girl`s physical health has not been harmed by my brother or anyone in this town." said Elijah looking understandingly at Elena. "However we came to believe that she`s mentally damaged. We`re only trying to help her…"

"I don`t doubt you Elijah." She replied. "But we are her friends and I think we are the only ones who can help her! ..."

"What friends?!" said Caroline coming out of her room, her hands crossed on her chest, her face completely blank.

"Caroline!" said Elena with relieved voice and rushed over to hug her.

She was stopped dead on her feet when Caroline looked at her like she despised her.

"Caroline, are you okay?" she asked a little taken aback.

"I`m fine…" she said still with the blank face.

"What did you do to her?!" cried Elena to Klaus`s direction. He just smiled an evil smile at her.

"Caroline… " said Stefan carefully, already understanding what had happened. He had seen the same face on a person he loved a long time ago, and this was a real waking call for him… "Elena step back… She`s turned the switch off!"

"Caroline, it`s us… Your friends…" said Elena again half crying.

The blond vampire just threw her head back and had a really good laugh that echoed through the empty room.

"Which one of you is my friend?" she said amused. "You Elena?..." she took few steps close to her. "You, who chose as your boyfriend a guy who had constantly manipulated me, used me, fed on me, raped me, when I was weak?!... You even choose the man who killed my father over me!...You know it`s all your fault that I died, that I became a vampire? If it wasn`t for you, Katherine would of never come to Mystic Falls in the first place. You even hurt my mother once. You have done nothing for me in your entire life, when I`ve given you everything, and you call yourself my friend? You`re a pathetic hypocrite!"

"Caroline, stop! This isn`t you, and you know it!" said Stefan.

"Or is it you Stefan?" she said instantly turning on him. "You are my friend? Because if I remember correctly, you left me, when I needed you the most. I was there every single time you needed my help and when I needed you… You simply took off, never looking back…"

"That`s not true…" he said looking down.

"Isn`t it?" she smiled. "Where were you when my mom died?"

He didn`t answered, he just looked down.

"That`s right, Stefan! You weren`t there… Why?!" she kept pushing until he looked at her and he was ashamed.

"What about me Judgie?" said a strong male voice with British accent and everyone looked at the door to see the newcomer, including the two brothers. "What do you have on me?"

"Enzo…" she said smiling ever sweetly, earning Nick`s curiosity.

"Hello, gorgeous!" he replied with a dark smile.

**I`m sorry for taking so long to post a new chapter and for not including some of the things I`ve promised.**

***Camille will die and Klaus will have the conversation. I just figured it would be huge if I putted it here. **

**Next Chapter: (all that is written above *…) Klaus confronts his mother. Koll chooses sides. Caroline turns murderous.**

**Thanks for reading.**

**T.J.**


	5. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4: STRATEGY**

**Koll Michelson** sat on the porch looking at the sun that set in between two mountains and sink in the blackest ocean he had ever seen for a thousand years. Then again, there were so many things that had changed after all these years. All the centuries that he spend in the coffin as a result to his murderous brother`s poor nerves.

Nick-Klaus…

He should`ve hated him. Actually, he should despise him. It was his fault that he lost his precious time dead. And now he was dead for real. Well, temporarily brought back by his ludicrous mother who wished to vanquish her family once and for all from the face of the earth. And he had to play the role of the murderer, a role he has been playing all his life. Only this time was different… This time, he wasn`t the author of his life, of his role, he was just a plane actor who only had to play the part he was given. A part he despised…

He looked up to look at the brown-haired girl, Hayley, was it? She was a really pretty face. Not his type, but still… She was barfing orders to the wolves impatiently and they of course obeyed with grate willingness. He could see that they weren`t only serving her because she was their leader. They were loyal to her, they honored her, they loved her…

"The perimeter is secured…" she assured him. "So if you have any intentions of running…"

"Need not worry darling, I will do no such thing…" he said.

Hayley stared at him from above for a little while and then decided to speak her mind.

"Look, I`m probably going to regret this, but I have to ask… Why would you cross your mother and risk your life to secure a child you never met? Not that I`m complaining or anything but still... What`s your motive?"

Koll smiled.

"Why should I have an alternate motive?"

Hayley actually laughed and grabbed the cell phone to check it once more before she spoke.

"If I learned anything this past couple of months… is that everyone has an alternate motive..." she responded. "Especially the Michelson`s family."

"Smart girl!" he said raising one ear brow.

"So…?" she pushed.

"I don`t know…" said Koll honestly. "maybe it`s because I don`t trust my mother… Maybe, no matter how evil I am, and trust me I am as evil as it gets, just maybe I don`t like the idea of killing a baby… I mean, it can`t oppose you… It`s no fun…" he corrected. "Or maybe it`s the fact that Nick has always been my favorite brother, and the only one who truly mourned my death…"

"So you want me to believe that you did this for sentimental reasons?" Hayley asked in a verge of a smile.

Koll frowned.

"I love my family Hayley… No matter what I am…" he said. "And I know Nick-Klaus, Elijah and even Rebecca would protect me if they have to while my parents will probably send me to the land of the dead with the first opportunity they`ll get. And I do enjoy being alive… Nick is my best chance to surviving…"

"So, this is your motive?" she asked a little disappointed. "To, stay alive?"

"You clearly don`t value your life enough, darling…" said Koll smiling.

"So if the choice was between you and the bay, would you… would you…?" she just couldn`t get the words out and was not sure she wanted to know the answer.

"Kill it?" Koll asked. "Probably, I wouldn`t even think about it twice…"

"That`s right…" said Klaus coming from the woods. "Because if you did, you wouldn`t be able to do it…"

The two brothers hugged each other for a moment.

"Right…" said Hayley indifferently before leaving. "I`ll be anywhere… else…"

"You choose the right side, brother…" he said after they were separated, ignoring the girl completely.

"Nick-Klaus…" he acknowledged. "There was never really a choice…"

"Still… As for what you said, _**I **_ am as evil as it gets, little brother…" said Nick-Klaus. "And if I can`t do that, then you most certainly can`t…"

"Come now brother, you know me better than that! ..." mused the youngest Michelson.

"It`s because I know you that I can finally trust you. You trusted me with your life again, even if I failed you the first time…" said Klaus looking guiltily at him.

"Don`t remind me…" said Koll. "I`m so embraced from the fact that I was killed by the stupidest and dumbest people in the world!"

Klaus smiled.

"Well you are most welcome to get your revenge after you help me…" said Klaus smiling. And then with a confide tone he added: "Just don`t tell Caroline that I told you so…"

"It don`t matter. She will be dead soon anyway…" said the youngest brother.

"What are you talking about?!" asked Klaus with a dangerous tone.

"After I tell you what she did, Nick-Klaus… You won`t spare her life for any reason…" Koll replied equally serious.

**Klaus** stormed into the compound and everyone backed up seeing the king so angry and fierce. He was holding a wooden stake pointed to the people around him as he spoke at first quietly and then he screamed.

"Where is she? ... _Where is she?!_... Caroline, come out to meet your end sweetheart! Come willingly or I`ll make you beg for your own sweet death! …"

It was Elijah who came out of the shadows and spoke surprised.

"Nick-Klaus, what madness is this?" he said ever composed.

"No, brother, madness is the fact that I still allow her to breath when she had conspired against the only creature that truly is mine! Now, where is she, I can`t wait to end her worthless life…" he was on the verge of tearing up under the pressure of his fury.

"Everyone…" said Elijah quietly. "Forget whatever you heard here or what you`ll hear in the future. Nick-Klaus… Come with me!"

"No, I need to find her!" he said stubbornly. "Now…"

"What you need brother, is to explain to me what happened…" he insisted.

"She betrayed me, Elijah…" his words were broken as was his voice. "She`s sided with our mother…"

"You need to understand that this is not the same girl you fell in love with…"

"She means nothing to me!" he screamed.

Elijah looked at him sternly...

"You don`t have to convince me, as long as you convince yourself…" he said. "Tell me dear brother… Do you believe what you just said?"

Klaus let down the weapon and breathed out tiredly.

"If anything happens to Hope… If she harms her…" he said with a characteristic glimpse shining dangerously in his eyes.

"Tell me what happened brother…" insisted Elijah escorting him in the living room.

"_**What do you**_ mean by 'He Knows'?!" asked Caroline furiously while Ester continued mending a broken leaf of her favorite plant, using magic.

"I mean, he knows." She said calmly.

"Are you kidding me?!" she asked hysterically. "If he knows then he`ll…"

"Most definitely will kill you!" she said indifferently.

"How much does he knows?!" she demanded. "Does he knows I`m an original? He knows I helped you truck down Rebecca? That Hope is dead?"

"He just knows you made a deal with me and that`s enough reason for him to kill you!"

"Look, you need to fix this, Ester!" she demanded lifting a warning hand at her. "Work your woo do juju, or whatever, and fix this somehow!"

"I don`t need to do anything for you!" protested the witch proudly not giving easily a ground. "I upheld my end of the deal too, when I made you an original… I don`t owe you anything!"

"We agreed I wouldn`t be in any kind of a danger when we were finished, that end is still to uphold, Ester!"

The original witch stared at the young girl almost disgusted.

"Your talents at diplomatic attempts are simply pathetic…" she said. "None the less, you did help me to bring down the era of a terrible spices ruling this world. I will make a gift to you for that favor… Nick-Klaus will be at home in about an hour and these lowlifes…" she added looking down at her guards. "…they will be out for about two hours. So I suggest you leave immediately to pack your bags..."

"Are you kidding? I`ll be out of town in no time!" she said preparing to leave.

"If I were you…" said Ester smiling. "I would make sure the last remaining weapon in this world was with me in my journey…"

Caroline turned around to face her again, suspiciously this time…

"Why would you help me?" she asked.

"You don`t trust me?" she mused. "That`s probably the wisest thing you`ve ever done since the day you were born…"

"You are plotting against your own flesh and blood, you want to vanish the vampires from the face of the earth and now you want to convince me that you want to help me stay an original vampire… You choose to save me over your own family? Why?"

Ester smiled while she spook.

"One original vampire who can`t create any vampires works fine for me than thousands of them. If vanishing your kind has as a consequence to leave one original alive, even a new one… Then so be it… Besides, I strongly believe that after decaets you`ll be so sick of this world that you`ll probably kill yourself off out of boredom…"

"Well…" said Caroline smiling. "Don`t hold your breath for it… I`m not planning to die in the next century…"

A few minutes after the blond vampire left, Finn arrived.

"You called me, mother." He said.

"You need to prepare yourself for tonight." she commanded. "If Klaus fails to kill her, you would have to do it yourself…"

"Yes, mother." Was all he said before leaving the room.

"**Do you realize Nick-Klaus, **that this girl fallen prey to our mother`s traitorous behavior?" said Elijah, always analyzing the facts before acting. "You certainly understand that she killed that girl's mother on purpose to make her deny the human part of her. Then she offered her true immortality if she conspired with her… I mean, she made her the perfect weapon against you… Against us and…"

"And she almost succeeded…" he said emptying another glass of hard Bourbon. "That`s why I have to kill her… She represents the greatest threat… she weakens me! ..."

"There is another way…"

"There is no other way, Elijah!" he screamed and threw the glass into the fire place.

"Think about it Nick-Klaus…"he said. "You said that before you confront our mother, you overheard her talking to Finn right after Koll`s revelation … _Over-heard_!" he emphasized to the last words. "Our mother used to **burn sage ****1** in her privet conversations even when we were humans, there is no such thing as overhearing her conversations… She wanted you to hear it… I would actually go as far as to say that her every word was directed to you…"

Klaus turned around to face his brother.

"What are you saying?" he asked.

"You know exactly what I`m saying…" he responded. "You are a great mind, when it`s not clouded by vengeance… Just take a minute`s pause and think it through… Koll could be-"

"No!" he said determined. "I refuse to believe our brother betrayed us…"

"I don`t believe he did…" responded the oldest Michelson. "I think he was used as a pawn too… We know that the girl gave her your blood to locate Hope, but let's not forget that we`ve spoke to Rebecca and she says she has a witch on her side… There is no way that our mother – however powerful – could go around a spell that blocks locator spells. And our mother sends Koll to kill Hope, instead of Finn?! The one that is most likely to betray her instead of the son that would blindly do whatever she asked him to?"

"She knew Koll would come to me…" said Klaus finally understanding where Elijah's course of thoughts was going. "She knew he`d prefer my alliance over hers and she handed him over on purpose, so he could tell me about Caroline`s betrayal… To kill her, but why? Why would she make her an immortal and then send her to her death…"

"Or why wouldn`t she kill her herself?" asked Elijah.

"Returning from the world of the dead has consequences, especially for a witch..." said Davina entering the room, startling both originals that looked at her like she was some kind of a ghost.

"Every time she kills, she loses some of her powers… Besides, if she used your blood to create her as an original, that only means that only one of your family members can kill her…" she stated.

"What are you doing here?!" said Klaus angrily.

"Well, I thought I could help you… But if you don`t need me…" she started to turn around when Elijah stopped her.

"I believe my brother meant that we would be grateful for your help…" he said.

"Really?!" mused Klaus angrily. "Have you forgotten the part where she resurrected our hateful father from the dead?!..."

"How you forgotten the part when you threatened every single person I ever cared about?!" said Davina angrily. "I just wanted to protect myself and my friends… I didn`t meant for any of this to happen. I know how to take down Michel, but I need your help. I just came to ask if you were still willing to kill him…"

"Of course we are…" said Elijah. "We just need to sour some things out first… Do you know what ingredients are needed for someone to become an original?"

"Of course… Except the basic plants the blood of a vampire, of a human and of the doppelganger… And of course of the person about to become an original…" she then pause slightly panicked. "You`re not planning to make someone else like you, are you?"

"Wait are you sure? I mean could it be something else in the place of the doppelganger? Or would it be-?"

"Human doppelganger is absolutely irreplaceable… I mean practically the whole spell is based on it…"

Klaus looked at Elijah who just smiled.

"Well, would you look at that?!" said Klaus mimicking his eldest brother`s reaction.

"Our mother fooled us again… She`s not an original…" Elijah stated.

"She still betrayed me… She betrayed us..." repeated Klaus frowning.

"She`s not herself brother, you`ve said it yourself…"

"So do you suggest I just let it go then?! To forgive her, just like that?"

Davina wanted to know what were they talking about but thought it would be wiser to remain silent.

"No, but there are other ways to punish her…"

"Like what?!" he demanded.

"I`m sure you`ll think of something…" said Elijah smiling. "After all, your skills at punishment and torture are legendary. But… if she truly thinks she`s an original, which I`m certain she does, then she will be off of vervain… Compel her to tell us our mothers secrets, everything she knows…"

"How could we know what she`s not in vervain?!" Klaus inquired.

At that point Marcel's voice echoed in the hall.

"Klaus, where are you?!"

"In here!" called the king of the shadows and Marcel was in the room within a second.

"What`s wrong?" asked Davina seeing him startled.

"Cami is dead, Caroline threw her from a building… Some of my guys saw her standing on the roof of Roseau's! She broke one of your rules and thee are witnesses…"

"Wait what?!" asked Davina standing from where she sat.

"Don`t worry love, she wore a necklace that protected her from death at supernatural hand…" said Klaus and Davina looked considerably relieved. "Now … Elijah, I believe that confirms what we said before… Our mother is really building a case against her… Caroline probably knows something she doesn`t want us to know, so she wants me to kill her… Marcel, sent a search party to find her, she can`t be far… Davina I believe you can perform a small spell to locate her-"

"That`s not necessary…" Marcel responded. "Some of our new recruits were able to catch her outside Bayou while she tried to flee. They should be here any minute now."

Klaus smiled at that.

"Elijah, go, prepare Koll… Something tells me that tonight we`ll have the perfect opportunity to confront our dearest mother… Marcel, you`re free to go, I know how impatient you are to see your lover and do tell our sweet Camille I`m grateful for her services… Davina…"

"I`ll go with Marcel…" she said. "Cami is my friend, I want to make sure she`s ok…"

"I think Marcel has got that covered love…" said the original hybrid. "Besides, I will be needing you here…"

"I will be back as soon as I make sure Cami is okay…" she insisted stubbornly.

Klaus exhaled irritated but knew better than to force the young witch to do anything against her will.

"Okay…" he finally said. "But I need you to do something for me before you leave…"

_**Caroline Forbs was**_ escorted back to the compound with two bodyguards. Well, the word "escorted" is putting it mildly. They practically threw her in Klaus`s room, making the king of the shadows angry. He caught both of them by their throats and chastised them about harassing his lady. He then sent them away with threats of killing them and everyone they`d ever met, if something like that was ever repeated.

"I apologize for the lack of tact in my solders, love. You have my word that will never happen again…" he said politely smiling at her.

Although Caroline knew this was an act, she played along and smiled at him.

"What`s with all the testosterone?!" she asked sweetly.

"Ah, that… They believe you murdered Cami…" he said calmly. "Did you?"

"No…" she responded automatically. "Although I would have gained a great pleasure if I had…" she added.

Klaus went silent while Caroline hovered in the room.

"You`ve been painting…" she noticed seeing the canvas. "Did you do this?"

Klaus took his time sitting on a couch while drinking red wine before he responded smiling.

"You just reminded me of an old story…" he said looking at her sternly. "They say, that when the second world war was over, a German solder wondered in Picasso`s tent, and when he saw **Guernica****2** and asked him 'Who did this?', Picasso responded 'You did!'"

There was a small pause.

"What does that have to do with this painting?" Caroline inquired.

"Because, love, Picasso`s answer to the solider is the same as mine to you… you did this… I just mirrored it on the canvas…" he said looking at her devilishly.

The female vampire was about to ask what he meant when she saw the small letters on the painting under his signature. The words were: "BETRAYAL AND PUNISHMENT".

"You betrayed me…" he said on cue.

She looked at Nick-Klaus who stared back with his yellow bloodshot eyes and sharp fangs pointed at her as he leaned over the couch he was sitting on, and for the first time since she was there she felt something. She felt threatened, weak, helpless… Yes, Klaus had finally triggered an emotion in her. Where her friends had been unsuccessful, he made it. He made her afraid of him…

Against all logic, she bolted to the door. It was a stupid reflex of fear, but right now, it was all she had… She needed to run away from here, from him… And of course she didn`t managed to.

An invisible wall stopped her from leaving the room. Something like a glass between her and her freedom…

"No…" she whispered fighting against it, knowing that it was in vain.

"You`re losing your breath, love…" he said taking his time to get up. "You have a better chance to fight me and win, than to win against that spell… But then again, if fight me… You`ll lose…" he said amused.

He was toying with her. He had her exactly where he wanted her to be and she knew it. Like a predator closing in his pray Klaus stepped closer. She couldn`t escape him and she knew he wouldn`t show her mercy. She knew he was going to kill her. And she was really, truly afraid. She knew that the only way she could survive him was to turn her emotions on, but she didn`t. She held the switch off as long as she could…

Klaus closed in and Caroline trembled against the wall.

"I am going to ask you once… Answer correctly Caroline, or so help me, you won`t live enough to see the guests arriving at your party…" he trapped her in between his arms putting his hands against the wall on both sides of her head. "What do you know about our mother`s plan, that I don`t already know?"

"Nothing…" said Caroline with a small voice.

Klaus putted his evil smile on.

"Wrong answer…" he whispered before biting her hard on her delicate neck.

In that instant Caroline was so terrified that she didn`t realized, it just slept her attention completely…

And before she could stop it from happening, the switch was on.

**Hey everyone.**

**Thanks for reading my story, I am having fin writing it and I hope you are having fun reading it. **

**Let me know about anything you want to see in the next chapters and I`ll try to make it happen and if you can, please do review. It really inspires me to know what you`re thinking about the storyline. **

**I`ll upload again in two days.**

**Thanks again.**

**T.J.**

**NEXT CHAPTER: Elijah and Hayley are having a disagreement. Davina helps Caroline. Klaus goes to Europe. Caroline shares a moment with Enzo. **

**Burning sage prevents anyone from eavesdropping. Even if he has supernatural hearing. (TVD)**

**Guernica is a painting by ****Pablo Picasso****. It was created in response to the ****bombing of Guernica****, a ****Basque Country**** village in northern ****Spain****, by ****German**** and ****Italian****warplanes**** at the behest of the Spanish ****Nationalist**** forces on 26 April 1937 during the ****Spanish Civil War****. **


	6. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5: APOCALYPSE**

**Her scream echoed through the empty halls**. The despair and horror that was clearly painted in her voice startled even her attacker. She screamed one time, but it was like everything she ever felt underneath the mask she was wearing all these days came rushing out. All the grief, all the despair, all the pain a person could possibly feel in a lifetime was expressed with one desperate scream…

Klaus stepped back surprised by her reaction. He didn`t expected that. After all this wasn`t the first time he bit her but it most certainly was the first time she reacted like that.

Caroline kneeled down, until she hit the floor, with her back still touching the wall behind her. She was crying without letting a sound out. It was like she was choking, struggling to breathe... There were no tears, no more heartbreaking screams, nothing… just her body shaking so hard, you`d think she was going through electroshock.

"Caroline…" he said taking a step close to her.

She didn`t respond, she couldn`t get any kind of sound out. It really felt like she was choking.

"Caroline…" said Klaus again kneeling down close to her. "Hey…" he whispered stroking tenderly her hair.

And only when he took her in his arms whispering hushing words did she let out everything she was holding in. The agony she felt all these seconds before she could color her grief with her cries could only compare to drowning…

"She killed her…" she managed to say in between cries. "Ester… She killed my mom…"

"Hush now, love…" was all he responded.

"No, Klaus… you have to know…" she said getting away from his chest. "She killed her… She sent Koll to kill Rebecca and your daughter… She is dead and I helped her… I helped her! I`m a murderer… I killed and I didn`t even care… Oh my God, oh my God, oh my god! I killed that girl and Brag and these guys in Portland and-"

"Hush now, Caroline… You weren`t yourself…" he said relieved. He was shocked earlier, he didn`t knew how to handle her reaction, he wasn`t good at comforting people. Actually, he was pretty terrible at it. "It wasn`t your fault, love… It was Ester`s…"

"No, no, no… How can you say that?!" her voice broke as she shouted up looking desperately at him. "I helped her kill your daughter… How can you not be killing me right now? ... Or maybe, maybe you don`t want to kill me yet… No, that would be too easy…" she continued rambling senselessly. "Maybe, you want to keep me around to torture me… I mean you did say you would punish me if I betrayed you…"

Klaus rose too from where he sat and took a cautious step closer to the weeping girl. He could literally smell her fear, it was written all over her face, and it was what triggered her humanity in the first place. So, he tried not to get too close and scare the already terrified girl. There was something almost childlike in the way she looked, scared and confused…

"Hope is ok… Rebecca is fine too… Koll went out of his way to help us and we managed to move them, although it seems that my mother hadn`t had the correct location, anyway…" he said calmly.

"How is that possible?" she asked weeping hastily some of her tears away. "I saw her perform the spell; I saw the satisfaction on her face when she found them…"

"Our mother is a good liar, Caroline…" he said walking around her to pour two glasses of hard whisky. As he handed one to her he added: "You shouldn't feel guilty for being fooled by her, love."

She took it hesitantly and drunk two sips of it. It was amazing what few drops of alcohol could do. She felt relatively calmer after she took the whole drink down…

"And your punishment is having your humanity back… Now, sit down, try to calm yourself, and drink this…" he said sinking his teeth in his wrist and offering it to her.

Caroline obeyed sitting on the sofa and taking his wrist looking at it hesitantly for a few long seconds.

"What is it, love?" he asked.

"Why are you always making me drink straight from your vain instead of spilling it in a glass, the way you do with everyone else?" she inquired.

Klaus smiled a secretive smug smile and answered only when Caroline had already drunk it.

"You will discover the secret pleasures of blood sharing one day…" he said kissing her forehead as she wiped the last remaining tears away and closed her eyes.

"How come I`m not an original?" she asked. "Did she lie about the spell too?"

"I wouldn`t be surprised…" he answered and then with a hushed and calming voice he added. "Listen to me love; you need to remember everything that happen these past few months, every detail could be important… Do you understand?"

Caroline shook her head, and then she took a deep breath and forced herself to talk. She told him about how Ester killed her mother and how she turned her humanity switch off. She had then left Mystic Falls, not even attending to her mother`s funeral. She was somewhere in Canada killing her way through some student parties when Koll found her and brought her in New Orleans.

"She said she was taking you down and reminded me that everyone you had ever sired was about to die. Then she offered me a deal…"

"Yes, she would make you an Original if you spied for her… What else?"

Caroline bit her lower lip.

"Actually…" she said hesitantly. "I was supposed to kill you whenever she told me to…"

Klaus blinked several times.

"She said I would spy on you and get close to you and when she gave me the clue…"

She stopped and glanced at him a little terrified. Klaus looked back at her managing to cover his anger with a comforting smile while asking her to continue.

"She said she needed your blood and I gave her what she wanted. I was planning on killing her when I found out…" she bit her tongue... She shouldn't have said that.

"Yes?" Klaus pressured.

"Well, she was planning on killing you without me…" she lied, one little lie. Whatever she said after was true. But that little lie was enough to startle her. "When I heard Koll saying that they had Hope`s location I demanded to take what she promised. She then performed the spell and gave me one more tasks. She asked me to kill Camille and I accepted. I wasn`t planning on keeping my word but when she promised to give me the only weapon that could truly kill me…"

"She promised you the white oak…" he realized.

"I didn`t kill her Klaus…" she said. "I searched but I couldn`t find her… So I decided to run away… And when you told me I couldn`t leave, I summoned my friends. Hayley`s necklace was a device against trucking spells, and I knew Liv was looking for me, so that night I compelled Anna to tell Hayley that she saw me wearing it…"

"So, you created a distraction." He finished her sentence. "The party, them… It was all to make us leave the compound long enough so you`d sneak out…"

"I get rid of them by saying… Terrible things…" she said regrettably looking down. "And when I went to see Ester to tell her I would kill Camille and get the hell out of the town she told me you knew about our deal and that I should leave, right after I took the stake… I was returning to the compound when I heard Cami scream and went to see what happened. Someone had already killed her and then one of your guys saw me and… Well, you know what happened after that… "

Klaus went silent for a moment that seemed like a century to the young Vampire.

"Are you going to kill me?" she asked in a small voice but stern face that almost made Klaus laugh.

Caroline was always trying to hide her feelings. She always looked as if nothing ever hurt her. But he knew better than to believe her poker face.

"No." he said after a minute, putting his glass on the table.

"Why not? …" she inquired.

"Well, first of all, my family is safe and unharmed. Whatever you were planning to do before you won`t do now. Second, you weren`t yourself, you were used by my mother and I am certain now that she wants you dead. I don`t know why, but she does, and besides the fact that I wish to deny her every single thing she wants, I`m pretty sure that whatever is in her best interest is in my worst. And thirdly…" he said pausing and looking at her sheepishly for the first time since she arrived. He had to remember she was not the soulless Caroline anymore. And it wasn't hard. He could see it every time he looked her in the eyes. It was her who looked at him like she was apologizing instead of glaring disgusted, like she needed him to forgive her for all the terrible things she has done. Klaus could almost appreciate the irony in how things had turned out.

"I`ve told you before…" he said finally leaning back in the sofa smiling. "I enjoy you…"

"But?" Caroline asked reading the hidden words.

Klaus smiled.

"You know me well…" he said and leaned close to her. "I only forgave you because of your situation. But it was the last time I did so… If you ever go behind my back again, Caroline… I promise you it will be the last thing you`ll do…"

Caroline felt her eyes burning once more and forced them to obey her. She looked down not saying a word. She had kept one thing secret and she knew when he`d find out, her death would be unavoidable.

Klaus understood that something was off and thought that the reason of her sadness was his words, so he once more took her in his arms and stroke her perfectly soft blonde hair, like she was some frightened little child.

"I feel so ashamed…" she whispered resting her head against his chest so she wouldn`t look at him.

They stayed like that for awhile not saying anything else.

Until an argent phone call startled them both ruining their moment.

"**Do you understand the plan Koll?" **asked Elijah.

"For God`s sake, Elijah, even the stupidest person in the world would understand it. You`ve only repeated it fifty times already…" said Koll.

"I just want to make sure nothing goes wrong…" he responded.

"Give it a rest Elijah…" said Hayley bored. "We all understood the plan…"

Elijah prepared himself to say something but didn`t get the chance since his phone rang.

There was no number but he knew exactly who it was.

"Rebecca?!" he said choked. "Is everything okay?"

Hayley rose from where she sat with her body rigid.

"No, where is Nick-Klaus?"

"Not here, what is-"

He was interrupted by Hayley who took the phone from him in nanoseconds.

"What is wrong with my baby?!" she demanded to know.

"I don`t know for sure but I think it has something to do with Nick."

"How?" asked Elijah while Hayley turned the phone on loudspeakers out of habit.

"Well, it kept crying and then a bite mark appeared on her neck. It doesn`t looks exactly like a werewolf bite but…"

"The girl…" said Elijah startled.

"What?! …" asked Hayley and Koll at perfect union.

"Nick-Klaus must of bitten her…" said Elijah picking up Koll`s phone to dilate Klaus`s number. "We`ve been wandering why our mother wanted us to kill her so badly… We hadn`t realized that somehow she had linked the girl with the baby using his blood…" Elijah explained while he waited for his brother to pick it up.

"What girl?!" asked Rebecca at the same time Hayley realized: "Caroline…"

"He`s not picking it up…" said Elijah trying Caroline`s phone this time.

"Just tell him to give her some blood… I`ll call you back in ten minutes… If it`s not what you think, just tell Nick to take the first plane to Europe. I`m already on my way, Cassie managed to slow down the venom from spreading but she can only slow it down I`ll meet him halfway in Italy, okay?" she said before she hung up.

"Your constant attempts at communicating is infuriating brother!" said Klaus picking Caroline`s phone.

"Don`t kill her!" said Elijah bossily hovering around in the house. "Please tell me you haven`t killed her yet…"

"Since when do you care about Caroline`s fate?" asked Klaus.

"Since she`s linked to Hope…" answered the eldest brother. "Rebecca called seconds before saying Hope has one of the hybrid bite marks. So if you bit the girl, I suggest you feed her your blood-"

"She`s fine… I`ve already healed her…" said Klaus.

"That can`t be … If she`s healed then why isn`t Hope too? That`s impossible…" said Elijah.

"It`s our mother… Everything is possible and expected from her, even the murder of her granddaughter." The bitterness was clear in his voice. "Do we know where she is?"

Hayley went out to talk to her pack while Koll sat on the bed faking indifference.

"Europe…" said Elijah. "Her witch managed to slow the venom from spreading…"

"Come to the compound, I can`t let anything happen to Caroline if that`s true." said Klaus. "Bring Koll and Hayley with you, they`ll be more safe here, cancel the plans for until I return. And call Davina; make her break the spell…"

"Brother, wait…" said Elijah hesitantly. "I think you should know… Rebecca's witch… It`s Cassie…"

Elijah heard his brother`s breath catching and then silence.

"Harry up and come!" commanded Klaus after a few seconds, before hanging.

**Klaus hanged up and** started looking at the missed calls in Caroline`s phone.

"What are you doing?" she asked him stepping closer.

"I`m calling your friend to come look after you…" he said.

"No, you can`t!" she exclaimed trying to take the phone. "I can`t see them, not after-"

"My daughter`s life is in danger and I have to stay here to look after the woman who is responsible about her possible death because she`s linked to her. So, forgive me if I don`t give a damn about how you`d fell when you see your friends again!" he yelled.

Caroline backed up, looking down ashamed once more. She was ready to say _you`re right, I`m sorry_, when someone else spoke.

"I`ll take care of her…" another British accent filled the room. "You can go…"

Klaus looked at Caroline again as if he was expecting her conformation to leave.

"He will …" she reassured him. "Go!"

"If anything happens to you…" he said to Caroline giving her the phone. "I will kill you!"

And as he passed through the guy leaning on the door he added.

"I will kill both of you!"

"Charming…" said the Englishman. "I`ve got to say it, you know how to choose them, gorgeous!"

"What are you still doing here Enzo?" she asked filling her glass with whiskey.

"I drink Bourbon… " said Enzo.

"There are plenty of other glasses here…" she replied dryly.

"You`re not actually going to drink…" said Enzo taking the glass from her. "Klaus may be an alcoholic but I don`t think his child inherited that, just yet."

"Ugh! How am I suppose to survive all the waiting without a drink?!" she yelled crushing on the sofa.

"Well…" said Enzo sitting next to her and casually putting Caroline`s feet on his lap. "You can start from telling me what I missed all the time I was gone to Egypt."

"**Are you kidding me?!"** Hayley screamed at Elijah crossing her hands on her chest.

"I am not. My brother requested it." said Elijah ever calmly.

"I don`t care about your brother`s requests!"She barfed. "I want to see my daughter and I will!"

She made a gesture to leave but Elijah caught her by her wrist.

"Perhaps I haven`t made myself clear…" he said. "You will come to the compound with me and help me protect the girl until Davina`s arrival…"

"I will not!" she yelled trying to release her wrist and failing. It only ended up in Elijah pulling her closer. "Let go!"

"Not until you obey."

"What is this now?" she said half smiling. "Klaus hadn`t left yet and you`re already wearing bossy pants?!"

"Hayley…" he said warningly.

"I will not sit around here while my child is in danger! I want to see her! Why does Klaus gets to see her and I don`t?!"

"Because he is the only one who can save her life… And he`s immortal, he will illuminate every threat that will occur along the way and you`ll be a dead weight!"

"I can take care of myself…" she insisted.

"A stake through your heart will put an end to your life and Nick-Klaus won`t allow this. You will only hold him back… Let him do this alone Hayley… You will see the baby another time… I promise."

"No, you can`t stop me from-!" she strangled to escape.

"I can and I will…" Elijah tightened his grip. "Can`t you see I`m trying to protect her?!"

Hayley couldn`t hide her despair anymore. One minute she was fighting against him with all her strength and the next she was leaning on his chest trying to hold herself together.

"I just want to hold her, to make sure she`s ok, to…" a tear escaped from her eyes and Elijah caught it before it slipped down. She then took a deep determined breath. "I know you`re right Elijah… I know that… But sometimes it`s really hard to keep going."

"I understand." He said releasing her. "But we need to leave, now. Every second we spend is precious."

"I just can`t believe I have to protect the woman who tried to kill my daughter…" she whispered before calling her pack to inform them about the change in plans.

"Neither do I…" said Elijah when he was sure Hayley wasn't listening.

"**Damon is back?!"** asked Caroline shocked.

"Why do you think everyone skipped town?" asked Enzo amused looking at his glass. "You don`t really think they were afraid of your threats do you?!"

"What about Bonnie?" she asked ignoring his comment. "Is she back to? Why didn`t anyone tell me?"

"Well, you haven`t been quite… conversational these past few days…" he said.

"Ugh! Why didn`t she came to see me?"

"That`s the thing, Blondie, she`s still trapped in some king of a supernatural prison while Damon is trying his best to find a way to bring her back."

"Excuse me?! Did I hear that correctly?! _**Damon**_ is trying to bring Bonnie back…" said Caroline ready to laugh. "And I thought I had seen everything in this life…"

"Well you apparently haven`t… Do you want to hear something more unbelievable?" mused Enzo.

"How can anything you say next be possibly more unbelievable?!"

"Bonnie sacrificed herself to sent Damon back. And right now, Damon is coming here to talk to you, because he believes you can help him save Bonnie…"

Caroline just stared at him for awhile. Just stared…

"What?" asked Enzo finally after a minute`s silence.

"I`m waiting for the punch line?" she said.

"Sorry to disappoint you, gorgeous, there is none…"

"Wait a second, what does Elena has to say about that?" she asked.

"She`s blaming Damon. She thinks he used her and left her behind…"

"Well, a few years ago I might actually agree but…" she remained skeptical. "He wouldn`t do that to Elena… And I would actually say that he likes Bonnie…"

"Well, that, and Damon would not leave a man behind…" said Enzo taking a huge sip. "Unless, he flipped the humanity switch off… And he hasn`t so…"

"He`s telling the truth…" finished Caroline. "And Elena doesn`t believe him because she thinks he`s a monster. I think it`s time for me to interfere… I have to go back to Mystic Falls. If Damon`s right and I can help Bonnie…"

"Actually, he said you should stay put…" Enzo said.

"I can`t just sit around and wait… If I can do anything to help, I have to go…"

"Not until I break the linking spell…" said Davina entering the room.

"Hey, is Camille ok?" said Caroline rising from where she sat. "I swear I didn`t kill her ok? There was someone else…"

"I believe you…" said the little girl.

"You do?" asked Caroline surprised.

"I can tell when someone is lying…"

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before anyone spoke.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Caroline blurted out without thinking. "I know you should probably hate me for what I did to your friend and believe me, I am truly sorry… But there is a friend of mine that needs to be saved… Her name is Bonnie and she`s a witch and I was wondering if you could-"

"Why should I help you?" she asked looking at her like she despised her. "Since you stepped foot in this town you`ve done nothing but harassing my friends, why should I show you kindness?"

"Oh, come on now, darling!" said Koll entering the room. "Don`t be mean…"

"What are you doing here?" asked Davina genuinely surprised.

"It`s a long story…" he responded wickedly.

"You can tell her another time…" said Hayley entering right after Koll.

Caroline looked at any other direction but the brunette girl`s.

"I can`t wait to kill her…" she spitted out.

"I`d love to see you try…" said Enzo stepping in front of Caroline protectively.

"Are you challenging me?" said Hayley taking another step close to him. "Do you even know what she did?"

"Enough, everyone…" Elijah said leaning casually on the door. "Nick-Klaus will decide her fate when he returns… No one touches the girl until then."

Everyone in the room went silent, even Hayley.

"Just listen to me Davina…" said Caroline taking a step forward. "Bonnie is a Bennett witch, she`s just like you ok? I`m not asking you to help me, all I`m asking is to help her… She always sacrificed herself for us and if I have to do the same to bring her back I will…"

"What are you talking about?" asked Enzo.

"She knows…" said Caroline blinking rapidly; there was no reason to hide it anymore. If it would help her best friend, Caroline was willing to sacrifice herself. "Don`t you Davina?"

"There`s a reason why Ester wanted Caroline to be killed by one of her sons…" said the young witch. "When she used Klaus`s blood to link her to the baby… Well, let`s just say that, by doing this she made sure that the only one who could kill either of them must share the same blood as Klaus`s. But she had linked Caroline`s life with hers way before she linked Hope to Caroline. It`s hard to link three people together, but it`s possible. It`s a lot easier than to link two witches together, especially when one`s location is unknown. She used Caroline as an anchor between her and Hope, so when Caroline died she would automatically be linked to Hope."

"Forgive me if I don`t follow…" said Elijah. "But wouldn`t our mother be dead if the girl died?"

"Caroline`s death would cause the death of the person she was linked with first, Ester`s…" said the witch. "But, since the baby would still be alive, Ester would not be affected by her death. Think of it as an equation. 1+0-1=0. If the zero was removed from the equation, one minus one would still be a zero, right?"

"Did you know any of this?" Koll asked.

"Well I suck at math… But yes, I knew I was linked with Ester, although I didn`t knew I was to the baby too…" Caroline said in a small voice. "And when she made me believe I was an Original she told me the link was automatically broken. She lied didn't she?"

No one answered. It was obvious…

"Ester wanted to be linked with the baby, so no one would dare touch her…" said Davina. "She didn`t wanted to kill it… yet…"

"So?" asked Hayley. "Am I the only one who doesn`t understand why all these are accurate right now?"

"When Davina unlinks me from your child, I will still be linked with Ester." said Caroline. "That offers you the perfect opportunity to negotiate with her… or kill her!"

"I would prefer the second offer, definitely…" said Hayley smiling straight at the blonde girl.

"Would someone please shut her up?!" asked Enzo irritated.

"Hayley…" Elijah chastised her before turning to Caroline talking directly to her for the first time since she arrived in town. "What are you trying to tell us…"

"I`m just offering myself, in return of Bunnies' life…" she said.

"Are you serious?!" Enzo asked in between his teeth.

"Not now, Enzo…" she replied.

"Not now?!" he asked infuriated. "What happened to 'Klaus will decide her fate'?! What happened to 'No one touches the girl'?!" he turned to Elijah.

"I can assure you" said Elijah. "If my brother was here, Caroline would seize breathing the minute we broke the spell that links her to his child…"

"He had the chance and he didn`t…" Enzo provoked.

"Well, something tells me that your dear friend, didn`t share all the information with my brother…" Elijah said turning to look at Caroline who just looked away… "She probably knew what her fate would be…"

"If you`re so sure about Klaus killing her, let`s give him a call, see what he has to say on the matter. Shall we? …" said Enzo stepping right in front of him.

"Are you threatening me?!" Elijah demanded to know a little amused.

"Enzo!" it was Caroline who spoke. "That is enough…"

"My, my…" said Koll looking amused at Caroline when Enzo stepped back. "You do have the British men wrapped around your finger, don't you? …"

Caroline glared at Koll and looked back at the witch.

"Danvina…" she said tiredly.

"I will help you." The witch responded instantly. "But first, let's break that spell shall we?"

**Sorry it took me so long to update I caught a cold and I was not in the mood of typing.**

**Actually I tried and it was miserable, so I decided to wait.**

**I`ll do my best to improve my spelling, no promises though.**

**Many thanks, to everyone who took the time to review.**

**And of course, MANY THANKS, to everyone reading the story. **

**I`ll update again in two days.**

**T.J.**


	7. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6: PLOTTING**

**"How is she?" asked Davina entering the room.**

"She hasn`t woken up yet…" Marcel answered looking over Cami`s body.

He had stayed up all night till dawn`s first light, waiting for his sleeping beauty to wake up.

But she never did…

Caroline sneaked a peak from the door, half entering the room.

"What is she doing here?" he asked rising from his chair aggressively while the new vampires mimicked his moves.

"I came to apologize…" Caroline blurted out.

"She didn`t kill her, Marcel." said Davina. "Trust me…"

"Then what the hell do you want to apologize for?!" asked Marcel looking furiously at the blonde vampire.

Caroline looked down while she spoke.

"I think there are plenty of reasons…" she murmured.

In any other circumstances Marcel would have felt sorry for her but right now he was too mad.

"She doesn`t want your apology…" he said.

"Well… She can tell me that herself when she wakes up!" she insisted also angry.

Marcel backed up knowing that with one more word he would lose control of himself and he was not interested in increasing the number of dead corpses in the room.

Caroline sat on the chair opposite him and leaned on the bed close to the girl.

"How long has she been out?" she asked not anyone in particular.

"Eight hours…" Davina replied.

Caroline thought It was strange but she didn`t say anything.

"Why are you awake at this time anyway?" Marcel asked.

Caroline remembered it was 6 in the morning and debated whether to answer or not.

"I couldn`t sleep…" she said finally.

"Bad dreams?" Marcel`s tone was sarcastic.

"Bad memories…" she answered in a low voice.

"This is weird…" Caroline said finally after an hour of silence and waiting. "She should be awake by now…"

"Oh, are you an expert of this, somehow?" Marcel was being sarcastic again.

"Actually, yes!" answered Caroline offended. "I have too many human friends with rings and I`ve stayed up too many nights by their side when your narcissist backstabbing friend was getting his mood swings and went on killing spreads. So cut me some slack and-"

Caroline stopped in the middle of the sentence and she and Marcel exchanged looks.

"What is it?" asked Davina confused.

"What is that smell?" it was Marcel who spoke this time.

Caroline knew the answer. She stood up and passed her hands through her hair nervously before dropping them down. She then looked sadly at Marcel and the young witch before answering.

"She started to decompose…" was all she said.

"No, no, no, that`s not possible…" said Marcel getting up and hovering above Camille`s dead body.

"Why is this happening?!" asked Davina on the verge of crying. "She wore the necklace that protected her from the supernatural, why would she be dead?…"

"Maybe… whatever killed her that night, wasn`t supernatural…" said Caroline hesitantly.

And she was right…

**"A bottle of your oldest scotch!"** said Caroline sitting on the bar at Roseau's.

"You mean a glass, right?" said a shocked dark-haired waiter.

"If I wanted a glass of scotch, I would have said 'a glass of scotch'!" she said annoyed. "Now bring me that bottle!"

The waiter turned around surprised and a little intimidated and did what she was told.

"What`s wrong, gorgeous?" asked Enzo who sat right beside her.

"Everything!" she said noticing him for the first time and drinking a few drops of scotch straight from the bottle.

"Easy…" said Enzo taking the bottle from her gently. "That thing is strong…"

"Huh…" she said amused. "Never took you for a buzz killer…"

"What`s wrong?" he asked seriously this time.

"Tell you what… Let`s make a deal…. I`ll tell you what happened if you give me back my drink… See?" she then laugh hysterically. "Have you notice how often I make deals lately? I mean I should really be a great dealer in the future, right? …" she said still laughing.

"Here…" said Enzo taking a deep breath and handing over the bottle to her. "You need it…"

Caroline drunk a lot of it, while Enzo was staring at her, looking really concerned about her. A considerable amount of time passed before she spoke.

"I wish Stefan was here…" she said sadly. "I mean, I`m glad you`re here… But…"

"But we are not as close as you and Stefan…" Enzo finished her sentence emptying his glass afterwards. "I get it…"

"No… that`s not why…" Caroline said looking at him. "We are close too, Enzo… The reason why I would want him here is because he would understand why I feel guilty about killing someone… I may have not killed Camille, but I`ve done some pretty horrible things while my humanity was off… And I can`t shake the darkness off of me anymore…. Not by myself… I`ve been down in places that scares me, I`ve done things of witch I am ashamed… But the worst part of all this is that… I liked it… Everything I did these past few days were terrible, but I liked every single part of it…"

"Maybe…" said Enzo. "It`s because given the chance of free will, every person takes pleasure in doing the things they consider to be wrong…"

"Is that so?" said Caroline sadly. "Then why don`t I feel pleased right now? I can still do all these things… But I know I won`t feel good afterwards…"

"It`s because you`ve convinced yourself it`s wrong to fulfill your needs!" Enzo said bored after ordering another drink.

"Fulfill my needs?!" Caroline`s voice rung in the empty bar. "I need blood to survive. I don`t need to kill or torture anyone. And besides if I only listened to my needs and instincts, I would be no better than an animal! That`s what makes us people, different from the animals… our judgment. We know what`s wrong because we have logic, so we can choose to do the right thing. A monkey doesn`t care to screw with one monkey today and another tomorrow because it has no logic and no moral codes whatsoever, so you can`t blame a female monkey of being a slut. We have that, we have the chance to choose between right and wrong and if we choose not to do the right thing, we are worse than animals."

The female vampire stopped to take a breath and then she drunk until the bottle was half empty.

"Wow…" said Enzo. "Were you taking philosophy classes in Whitmore? … Because I think they are influencing you a lot…"

"Shut up…" said Caroline tiredly.

"This is about Klaus isn`t it?" he asked. "You`re feeling guilty because you slept with him or because you liked it?"

After few minutes, when she didn`t answered he added faking a shocked face. "Oh, don`t tell me you saw that documentary film about monkeys that was recently on BBC. That`s where you stole your ideas from, right? You started thinking about all these because of that female monkey that was screwing with the male monkeys on the trees-"

"Enzo!" she intended it to be a scowl but it just sounded cheerful because she was laughing

Her laughter filled the air after Enzo continued talking.

"What I`m serious… It`s practically the female monkeys that are jumping around on the trees and poor monkey men just can`t resist their constant sexual challenges…"

"Shut up…" she said still laughing.

Enzo joined her and they both laughed together for awhile. It was the first time Caroline had heard his laughter and the sound was really pleasant. She felt something lift in the air and it was almost like Stefan was there. Enzo may not share the same moral codes she and Stefan did, but he knew how to make her laugh when she felt the world would come crushing in.

**Klaus was getting anxious. **

He considered abducting an empty plane by compelling the pilots but thought two steps ahead and figured it would be easier for him to go in a plane as he was and compel the pilot to start the flight before the designated time. He hadn`t talked to his brother so he was out of loop. He didn`t know his mother had no intentions of killing his baby yet. So he was forced to tolerate the crowd of people and fight the urge to kill them because he was in no mood for screams.

"What`s taking so long?!" he asked the pilot infuriated a few seconds after the arrival in the Orly airport was announced.

"We`re landing, sir" said the pilot. "Go back to your seat and tie your seatbelt."

Klaus wanted to do what he does best and rip his heart out but he forced himself to do what the human worm had told him to.

He would kill him afterwards for what he had dare to do. No, one would command him… He was the one giving the commands. He was the King!

_The King Of Shadows…_

When he finally landed in France he scanned the airport half waiting to see a blonde girl with a baby in her arms. But he knew better than to believe Rebecca would be so stupid as to be there. He just couldn`t wait to see his child.

His brand new cell phone rang when he had just compelled himself a new car.

"Where are you?!" he demands to know.

"On my way…" she responded. "Go to the National Library in Paris, close to the Seine River and wait for my call…"

Klaus pressed the gas pedal and the engine screamed. He felt the agony inside him grow with every second that went on. He knew his enemies were after him, he knew they would try to stop him and not seeing them yet was making him nervous. He always liked to ignore his problems until they were right in front of him and needed to be removed, but right now he wished he had all his enemies in front of him, so he could get it over with by killing them all at once.

The phone buzzed when he was crossing the bridge.

"Guar de lion train station. Get in the last car. Hurry up Nick, it`s getting really bad." It said.

A few minutes later Klaus harried to the train station with his phone on his right hand his eyes scanning every ounce of the station for any none human, supernatural activities, there were none. He busted in the last car as his sister told him and there was no one in it. He waited for a confused second and only when the door he had left open behind him closed did he saw what he was looking for…

"A double clocking spell, here…" he said already biting his wrist. "Clever…"

The baby made only a little sound when he made her drink from his wrist taking it temporarily from Rebecca`s hands. He was holding her as if she would shatter, as if she was a fragile snowflake ready to melt. He held her there, for a few seconds, not giving her up until he was sure she was healed and after that, he could not just give her up. He had dreamt many times over the past few months about reuniting with her and he clearly didn`t expect to see her under these circumstances.

"She has grown…" he managed to say after a few minutes.

"Yeah, quite fast I can tell…" said Rebecca affectionately.

"What is it like…" he couldn`t stop himself from asking. "to live under the same roof with her?"

"Ugh, it`s excruciating…" she responded tiredly. "She cries almost every night, barely lets me sleep and let`s not speak about the diapers… Sometimes I just think she`s your punishment for me…"

Klaus smiled still holding her and drinking every part of her in with his eyes.

"She`s lovely, Nick…" said Rebecca after a minute. "Although she seems to have our temper issues and she has a nerve, I can say, driving me crazy with her cries if I don`t get her anything she wants but… otherwise she`s really unique in so many ways…"

"Thank you, little sister…" he said. "I`m not going to forget what you`re doing for her... for me…"

He then sat on one of the chairs in the cabin playing around and studying his child`s every reaction. She had grown incredibly fast If anyone asked Klaus`s opinion. But it had been almost a year since he had parted ways with her. She smiled at him hiding her face behind her palms the one minute and putting them down the other, as if she was playing hide and seek with him. Klaus smiled a genuine smile at her and Rebecca`s heart squeezed with joy by seeing her brother like that. Has it really been centuries since the last time she saw him truly smiling with that genuine smile? …

In that moment she felt bad that she didn`t believe Elijah about the possibility of Klaus`s redemption two years earlier. Could she prevent all that from happening if she was more willing to believe her brother could be saved? Probably not but that didn`t stop her from feeling guilty. And that reminded her…

"How is Caroline?"

Klaus never took his eyes of Hope as he responded also with a question.

"Since when do you care about her well being?"

"Since I am the one who put her in this mess…" she whispered.

Klaus was a little taken aback by what she had just said and he actually spared a glare at her.

"What?!" he said.

"She didn`t tell you?" asked the girl really surprised. "Her cousin is a witch. Our friend from 1920ies, remember Cassie?"

Klaus nodded.

"Caroline didn`t know her aunt was a witch nor did she know she was with the witch coven in Organ, but she did know where she was, so I trucked her down and found her. I made Caroline forget everything but as you know our mother somehow managed to learn that detail."

"Elijah told me Cassie was with you… Where is she now?"

"Here…" said the brunette girl entering the room.

Rebecca took a step back and Klaus rose from where he sat.

"And for the record, I`m not a witch…" said the girl. "I`m a traveler, there`s a difference…"

"Well, that explains it then…" said Klaus a little taken aback. "You don`t look like what you used to…"

The brunette woman with the blue eyes and curly hair stared back at him smiling provokingly.

"I was forced to maintain my existence by jumping in somebody else`s body…" she said. "I didn`t realized it was a witch I was possessing…"

"It`s been awhile…" said Klaus "I didn`t expect you to be alive…"

"No one did…" said the witch smiling. "You know, it`s not that bad being a witch after all…"

"Well you always had the bad habit of breaking the rules…" said Klaus returning his full attention to his baby again.

"Much like my grams, don`t you think?" she replied smiling widely.

That was a low blow for Nick Klaus. She was toying with him and he was getting angry.

"Cassie, please, leave us alone for a moment…" said Rebecca smiling. She knew if she said any more there would be a quarrel.

"I`m sorry I choose her, I know what it cost you, but you did tell me to find a witch I trusted and there is no other witch I would trust more than her…"

"It`s ok, little sister…" he said rising from where he sat and blowing a kiss on her forehead still holding the baby with one arm. "I trust you to do everything it takes to keep her safe…"

"Is it getting any better Nick?" she asked with longing in her voice. "Is there any chance we would be returning back home, soon?"

Klaus thought about it for awhile before he answered.

"Until I figure out how to kill our parents once and for all, no… There is no hope, little sister…" he said.

The two siblings exchanged a look that lasted a few long seconds.

"Nick…" said the little fellow surprising it`s elders. They both looked at her at the same time. "Nick…" she said again smiling widely making them smile along with her.

"Nick…" she then put her little hand on her father`s cheek and laughed adorably while squeezing her feet.

"I told you…" said Rebecca moved by the scene but not nearly as much as her brother."She`s lovely…"

"I see…" said Klaus as a tear escaped from his eyes. "She is…"

"It must been terrible for Hayley not to come along…"

"It was…" Klaus said quietly. "Elijah barely could restrain her…"

They remained silent for a few minutes until Klaus spoke again.

"How much time do we have?" he asked.

"Two more minutes…"was all she responded. "And then we have to run… Again…"

**Damon Salvatore walked into Roseau's little bar and was surprised to see his **oldest and only friend sitting with the Vampire Barbie drinking some hard alcohol.

"Well, this is embarrassing…" he said. "You choose her as your drinking buddy over me?!"

"Damon!" said Caroline rushing up from where she sat and surprising both of the guys and herself by actually hugging him.

"I can`t believe that I`m saying this…" she said out of breath and drunk as she was. "But I`m actually happy to see you…"

Damon wore one of his kooky smiles she so much despised before speaking.

"I missed you too Blondie…" he said. "So, where is my most favorite villain?"

"Klaus is… on a mission…" she said not sure how to get the other words out.

"Oh, I`m sensing, some kind of drama here…" he said amused. "Wait… Don`t tell me, let`s have a glass of Bourbon and then us girls can chat about the sex with original birdies…"

"Damon!" said Caroline already regretting her previews words. "Could you be any more unpleasant?!"

"Yes, actually I can…" he said and pointed them to follow him in a table far from the bar…

"So, Enzo told me you find a way to bring Bonnie back…" said Caroline after Damon had had three double shots of Bourbon. _God, he __**is**__ an alcoholic... _Caroline thought.

"Err… You`re paraphrasing…" protested Enzo. "I said he is looking for a way…"

"So, what is it that you find out? Why did you lie to us about Bonnie not being there with you? And where is the _there _exactly? How can I help to bring her back? And why is it just you here? Why aren`t the others with you right now?"

"Eeeeeazy there detective Blondie…" said Damon… "I can handle one question at the time…"

"Just, tell us what you know…" said Caroline annoyed.

"Ok…" he responded straightening. "The former serial killer of both animals and humans and Mrs. I-want-to-forget-I-ever-loved-you, went on a mission to communicate with the Gemini coven in Organ, while the ex vampire hunter, the current vampire hunter slash quarter back, and as a special guest your dues' bag of an ex boyfriend are searching for a magical mythical device that is certainly the only thing that can bring our favorite witch back and probably doesn`t exist anymore…"

He then downed his glass at once and filled it again.

Caroline and Enzo were staring at him like he was speaking an ancient language they didn`t understand. After Damon realized that they were clueless of what he was talking about he then started telling the story of the other side prison *. He told them about Kai`s** story and how he tried to use them so he would come back. He also told them about Bunny's sacrifice.

"She realized she couldn`t save herself too, so she choose to do what she does best…" said Damon drinking yet another glass. "She sacrificed herself for someone else… me…"

"Damon, stop!" said Caroline taking his drink away from him. "Don`t you think you`ve had enough?"

"I personally don`t think this coven would help us… Not unless we give them something in return…" he continued blabbing not giving attention to his surroundings. "I think we might have a better chance with the Original witch on our side…."

"Why would she help us?" asked Caroline. "Why would she help me?"

"She doesn`t know you`ve been uncovered, does she?"

Caroline thought about it for a moment. "No."

"She still thinks' everything is going exactly the way she wants them to be…"

"I think I know what you`re thinking mate…" said Enzo. "But it`s too risky."

"Well, how many times did Bonnie risk her life to protect us, even you?" said Damon to him.

"I don`t care what happens to me, as long as she`s back…" said Caroline determined. "I have no family, my friends hate me, the man I had a crush on doesn`t care about me…"

"I disagree…" said Enzo. "Stefan may not be that into you, but he does love you, gorgeous. It`s impossible for someone to get to know you and not to love you…"

They exchanged long while looks.

"Well, I hate to be the non sentimental dick…" interfered Damon faking a disgusted look. "But we kind of need to keep our punts on and to stay focused…"

"Ok, but we have to wait for Klaus` return…" she insisted. "I`m not going to do anything if I don`t know that he`s at our side…"

"Did you get brain damaged while you were here Barbie vamp?!" said Damon raising his voice. "Klaus may be treating you like crap these days but if he smells that you`re in danger he`ll kill all of us and then he`ll compel you to forget you ever knew us…"

"He wouldn`t do- Wait, how do you know he`s been…?" Caroline stopped in the middle of the sentence realizing: "Enzo!"

"What?!" he made an innocent face. "We would have to fill him in eventually…"

"Ugh!"

"Look, I don`t like this idea either…" said Damon. "But we need to go behind the original`s back. And you may not believe, but I don`t like the idea of putting your life at risk as well, but we are out of options…"

"Davina promised that she would help us…" said Caroline. "But I don`t think she can right now, especially after what happen to Cami… She`ll need some time to mourn…"

"We don`t have time!" Damon screamed raising from where he sat. "Every second that passes is important. Who knows what that psychotic brat is doing to her right now, if she`s even alive… I don`t even know if we`ll get to her in time… Do you want to help her or not?"

Caroline shivered at the thought of losing their only shot to save Bonnie.

"Ok…" she said at last. "What do you want me to do?"

* The other side prison was created from the witches of Gemini clan to punish Kai for his crimes.

* Kai is a sociopath who killed his own family by consuming their magic in order to gain power. He tried to do the same to Bonnie but he couldn`t because only a Bennett witch could really get them back.

**Hey guys, sorry it took me so long to upload. **

**I understand this is the most boring chapter i`ve ever updated but i promise it`ll get better.**

**I see there is a question about the shipping. **

**(SPOILER) I think it`s obvious who i sheep considering the fact that Caroline is in New Orleans...**

**Don`t forget to review...**

**Thanks for reading.**

**T.J.**


	8. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7: APOLOGY**

__**I mourn the sun and I mourn the time that comes  
>Without us …<strong>__

_…_**and it's early, do you hear me(?)  
>It's early still in this world my love<strong>__

__**To speak of you and me.**__

__**It's early still in this world, do you hear me(?)  
>The beasts haven't been tamed, do you hear me(?)<strong>__

_…_

__**It`s me, you hear me(?)  
>I love you, you hear me(?)<strong>__

_**The Monogram by Odysseus Elytis  
>I will always mourn–hear me?–for you, alone, in Paradise.<strong>_

"**This is a disaster!"** Caroline yelled shouting out from where she sat.

Damon remained in the same position and Enzo kept leaning on the wooden jamb of the door as he held the cell phone so the others would hear.

"They are not willing to tell us anything about Kai and we are in no position to demand answers…." Elena stated from the phone.

"It`s all on you guys…" it was Stefan who spoke this time. "Liv is sort of running her own show right now, neither she or her brother is willing to help in any of this, their coven will not allow it. It seems like they have some sort of a connection with the Gemini clan and they`re loyal to one another…"

"What about Alaric`s girl?" Caroline asked willingly. "We`ve already established she`s a witch and Alaric could ask her to help us…"

"Jo`s not practicing witchcraft…" Elena stated. "And even if she did, I`m not going to ask Alaric to involve her in the middle of all this…"

"Are you kidding me?!" Caroline shouted. "You`re practically asking me to double-cross Klaus which could only end up one way: ! And you can`t ask your former guardian to do this one little thing for us?!"

"Look I`ll talk to Rick…" said Damon. "We can use all the help we can get… She may not practice witchcraft but she sure as hell knows more than she lets on… You two stay put, and wait till we get in contact. Stay in the camp, try to find any information you can get…"

"Damon…" Elena murmured. "Are you sure she`s alive? That she`s okay?"

"Yes, I am…"

"How are you so sure?" it was Caroline who asked the question. "I mean yesterday you were wondering if Kai had already killed her…"

"Because I found this…" he answered showing her the little teddy bear Bonnie loved so much.

"It`s hers!" Caroline exclaimed recognizing it. "She lost it when she was-"

"When she was nine..." Damon interrupted her. "I know, she wouldn`t shut about how she couldn`t find Mr. Cuddles while she was back home…"

Caroline chuckled.

"What?" Damon asked.

"Nothing, I just can`t believe you remember the Mr. Cuddle`s name…" she said and Enzo laughed.

"Shut up Enzo…" he said.

"I didn`t say anything-"

"No, but you were thinking too loudly!" he replied. "I know you so well it`s like our minds are linked…"

With these words said, something clicked inside Caroline`s mind and she looked at the two guys like she had just discovered the gravity rules.

"Uh oh, the blond Barbie has an idea…" Damon was being sarcastic.

"Oh, my god!" she said and took a seat as if she would pass out.

"Come on, gorgeous… Don't keep us in agony; enlighten us about your recent discoveries…"

The blond vampire took her time to answer.

"Ever since yesterday it`s been like a pit to my stomach… Like I was missing something… A piece of a puzzle…"

"And did you find it?" Damon teased.

"Damon!" Elena scolded from the phone.

"When Klaus… bite me, it should have been Ester the one feeling the affect of the bite through the link… Davina said that if Klaus had killed me, my death would affect the first person I would be linked to right? So the bite shouldn`t had affected the child, it should have appeared on the first person I was linked to…"

"Ester…" Damon murmured. "And that means…"

"That I`m no longer liked to Ester…" Caroline finished. "Therefore we have no leverage over her…"

"So, we`re screwed…" Damon stated emptying the glass.

"That`s not just it Damon!" the blond girl sounded desperate. "Ester made no move against the baby… If she wanted her dead she would just unlinked herself from me and kill me right?" no one spoke. "But she didn`t…"

"She did want you dead though…" Enzo stated. "She knew Koll would betray her and she handed him over purposively and let`s not forget she framed you of that bartender`s death to increase your case…"

"Cami…" Caroline added.

"So either she wanted you dead…" Damon said. "To which I can totally relate after spending a day with you, let alone months…."

"Damon!" Elena`s voice sounded again.

"Or she wanted to link the baby to someone else…" Caroline said ignoring their quarrel. "And the weirdest thing is that… that mysterious person is potentially a witch!"

"Why is that?" Stefan asked.

"Because Ester is too strong to do a linking spell between any other species but it`s next to impossible to link to witches without an anchor between them… So it should definitely be a witch…" Caroline stated. "…but who is it? And why would she go to such a trouble to link me to another witch?! Especially when she knew her children would try and kill her?"

No one said a word... A heavy silence fell in the room and just when it got about unbearable, Damon spoke, wearing his wicked smile on again.

"Well, these are the million dollar questions aren't they?"

**Caroline was silently packing her bags when Elijah Mikaelson entered her room.**

He watched her amused for a few seconds before he spoke.

"What is it that you think you`re doing, young lady?" he asked.

"What does it look like? I`m getting the hell out of here…" she said without stopping her work. "This place is depressing; I need to be as far away as I can from here. But don`t worry, I won`t go far. I`ve already booked a suite in Hilton so I`ll be nearby whenever you need me to take down your evil witch of a mother!"

Elijah took a deep breath and opened one of her suitcases.

"Hey, why did you do that?!" she yelled running towards it. "I needed almost all of my vamp strength to get that thing to close!"

"You won`t be needing them, you are not going anywhere." He stated.

"Excuse me?!" she put her hands on her waist demandingly. She really seemed like a stubborn child to Elijah that moment.

"My brother if halfway to meet his daughter and save her from his own bite, my elusive mother is trying to find a way to extinguish her own children and my father is on loose." He said in one breath. "Now, given the fact that you`re linked to my mother with whom you have conspired in the past and your history of betraying my brother, I`d say it`s fair to say I don`t trust you very much… How can I be sure you won`t once again conspire with her for your own benefits?"

"I will never, ever help her!" she said crossing her hands on her chest. "Or did you forget the fact that she killed my mother?"

"That didn`t stopped you from allying with her before, why should it be an obstacle now?"

"Yeah, it didn`t stopped me because my freaking emotions were off!" she yelled. "Now if you don`t mind I have some work to do and you`re getting in my way…"

Elijah took a sharp amused breath and smiled while talking.

"God, is every girl my brother is attract to so rude?!" he inquired.

"If you`re referring to Hayley… Just so you know she`s a saint in comparison to me so…"

"None the less…" Elijah said calmly. "I must ask you to remain in the compound until my brother`s return… If he grants you your freedom, I shall not get in your way…"

"My freedom?!" she yelled taking a step closer. "What the hell is wrong with you people, I`m not a freaking slave here, I`m free to do whatever I want to!"

"Do you really believe that?" asked Elijah calmly. "Do you really believe there`s such a thing as free will around Nick Klaus?! You know him well enough to understand that if my brother wants you here you`ll stay here and there is nothing you can do about it…"

"If I ask him to let me go, he`ll let me go." Caroline insisted.

"You are wrong. You don`t know my brother like I do…"

Caroline took another step closer until there was very little space between them.

"And you don`t know your brother like _I_ do…" she whispered.

They were standing face to face, glaring at each other, each convinced about their own truth. The room was silent; none of them broke it for a while.

"Don`t try to scare me Elijah…" Caroline said at last and took a step back. "I know both sides of Klaus… The good and the evil… I`ve seen them both and I've…"

She stopped before the words could slip her tongue. Before she could process them, before she even understand them, she rejected them. She hid them from her own self… But the original beside her understood perfectly what happened in the girl`s mind. After all, he was a thousand years old…

"You were about to say that you`ve loved them both, equally, weren't you?" he asked with suspicion.

Caroline faked a laugh… What else could she have done?

"Of course not… I just shared a moment with him… I saw what others overlooked, his humanity, and I`ve tried – and sometimes failed- to bring out the best in him… I saw a wounded man, Elijah, and I tried to mend him. Because that`s what`s what I do… When I see something broken, I try to fix it… It`s just who I am…"

Elijah studies every aspect of her voice, every mimic of her face and every meaning that could probably be hiding behind her words. He had already known the answer, no matter what the girl told him. But it amused him to hear her trying so hard to hide her emotions.

"So, that`s all my brother is to you then… He`s just a project?"

"Yeah, something like that…" she said smiling.

"And tell me… do you, as a rule, sleep with all your projects?" he pushed.

She felt the blood leaving her face. He knew?! Of course he did! But how?! She didn`t take Klaus as someone bragging about his… personal life… But word had probably got out about her and the original hybrid king. After all, he was quite famous around the vampire world. On top of the world actually…

"None of your business!" she said a little mad making an useless attempt on closing her suitcase again

"Have I offended you?" Elijah asked seemingly concerned.

"No!" Caroline`s ringing voice was weird because of the effort to close that god damned thing! "You just called me a project happy slut who sleeps with anyone, no matter who!"

"No…" said Elijah playing confused. "I just made an assumption from everything you just said..."

"Don`t do this please!" she said tiredly leaving her work and turning to face him. "Stop trying to manipulate me, it won`t work… Not on me…"

Elijah smiled.

"I see my brother didn`t exaggerate when he told me you`re so much more that meets the eye. Although you are not at all hard on the eyes either …"

"Wait what?!" she asked. "What are you-? Did he tell you t-?"

"Yes, Caroline… We`ve talked about you, a lot… But I`m not gonna tell you anything." He said ever a gentleman. "Neither am I going to tell Nick Klaus about your feelings…"

"You won`t?" she asked genially surprised. "I mean not that I have fallings about him…"

"Caroline…" Elijah said warningly. "You don`t have to lie to me… I gave you my word and we both know I`ll keep it. Until you`re ready to tell him yourself I shall not speak…"

"No… You shouldn`t…" she repeated completely on denial. "I can`t it`s… It`s too soon for that… A one night stand, I can take… But no, not happily ever after… not yet…There are still too many thorns between us… inside us about all the pain we inflicted on each other… Because, let`s be honest, I will never be able to forgive him completely and he`s never going to forget I conspired…"

She let the words be lost. She couldn't bring herself to say "Conspires to kill his child"… Even when she thought about it, all she felt about herself was disgust and revulsion… How could she have done something like that?! How could she let herself do something like that?! Maybe she wasn`t responsible for everything she did while her humanity switch was off, but she was responsible for turning it off. Or that`s what she was thinking at least…

"How could I let myself stood so low?" she hasn`t realized she had spoken out loud until Elijah asked her to explain what she meant.

"I was always the one to look at my problems straight ahead… I never hide from them, nor did I hide my feelings… No matter how hard things were I would always prefer the truth… And what have I done the last couple of months… I made a decision that was completely out of my character and… Everything that happened afterwards, they are side effects, consequences to that one single action… Turning the switch was a horrible idea, and it is all on me now…"

"You had a hard time; you are allowed to lash out every once in awhile…" Elijah find himself utterly oblige to reassure this young vampire who`s moral codes seemed to be so close to his.

"That`s the thing! I don`t lash out! I never lash out! Everyone else did but not me, never, not even once since Stefan toughed me how to be a vampire… And after all this time…"

"It happens to us all… It`s-"

"Don`t say inevitable… Please just don`t…" she then took a few steps closer to the window with her back turned at him.

She stared outside as the city was darkening by every minute. There was only a faded twilight left and soon it would be dark… When the creatures of the nights became one with the day walkers, when the predators danced alongside the pray and shadows became the masters of the world… In the city of sin … In the city of Shadows, while their King was absent… What could happen?

What could go wrong without The King of Shadows on watch?

Soon the parties would start, again…

"I can`t stay here…" she repeated. "Because every minute I`m here, I think about Hayley being in the other room and… I just keep remembering, I keep hating myself for everything…"

"I heard you scream in your dreams yesterday…" he replied. "You called his name…"

"Yeah, also in the no discuss pile…" said Caroline turning to face him again with her hands crossed on her chest while forcing a hysteric laugh.

"Listen… I would like to help you, I do but… I`m not going to let you move in somewhere else if I don`t have Klaus`s content agreement… I still don`t know what will be your verdict… I mean, it`s clear he won`t sentence you to death, but he has to punish you… He`s the King, he has to… He has responsibilities…"

"With great power comes grate sacrifices…" Caroline quoted. "I`ve read it somewhere…"

Caroline`s phone buzzed and she piqued a glance at Elijah.

"Look, I get it, you`re loyal to your brother but Klaus would let me meet my friends…" she said stubbornly. "And I have to meet Davina to take care some last funeral details…"

"Cami`s funeral?" Elijah asked. "When is it?"

"Sunday, tomorrow… We decided to wait till Klaus returned…"

"That`s probably wise…" he replied.

And as he went out of the door he added:

"Be back till nine, we have cancel meeting…"

"Since when do I become a member of the council?"

"Since I am in charge…"

"Are you guys sure we shouldn`t wait for Klaus? I mean he may have some temper issues but he may help us."

"Why don`t you talk to Elijah?" Elena asked. "If anyone will help it`s him. And he`s much more reliable ally than Klaus…"

"Yeah cause when he ever screwed us over?!" Damon was being sarcastic. "When he hide the truth about your sacrifice, when he didn`t killed Klaus or when he let Rebecca kill you? Are you kidding?!"

"He`s right Elena, he can`t be trusted… Besides, he doesn`t trust _me_ anymore…" said Caroline. "He flatly admitted that today…"

"No, guys, we`re doing this alone…" said Damon.

"Okay!" Caroline agreed. "Enzo is on his way to pick up Alaric and Dr. Laughlin. It turns out that she`s a Gemini clan member and Kai`s sister, who`d figured?!"

"Well you spend some time in Whitmore and all the more weird things will turn out, trust me!"

"I called Davina, she`s on her way… I`m supposed to meet her in the Bayou in twenty minutes…" said Caroline completely ignoring Damon`s comments. "We`ll see if she can make some sort of a connection between her and Kai. And if she`s unable to make a spell strong enough to bring Bonnie back…"

"We`ll go to plan B." Damon intervened. "…you, talking to the original witch!"

"And hoping that she`ll listens…" Caroline added.

"What can we do to help?" Stefan asked.

"I don`t know Stefan, just try to find something we can use against them… And be careful…" he said.

"We will contact you when we have something new…" Elena said before hanging up.

Caroline watched her phone going black and she exhaled miserably.

"I`m going to check is Klaus is back at the compound…" she said after a few awkward minutes. "… and then I`m gonna head straight to Bayou."

"Caroline, wait…" Damon caught her from her wrist and immobilizing her for a few seconds.

He immediately dropped his hand when she stopped to look at him.

"What?" she whispered.

"I wanted to talk to you for awhile now, and I think now that we`re alone, it`s the best time to do so…"

"Okay…" she said hesitantly taking a seat in front of him. "Let`s talk then…"

Damon remained silent for awhile before he spoke. He was trying to put some words together and force them out. After all she has been through because of him, she had to know…

"What do you see, when you look at me?" he finally asked.

"What?" Caroline mused genially surprised.

"When you look at me…" he repeated. "What do you see?"

"Have you been drinking? Because now is not the right time to get drunk with everything that`s-"

"Caroline, please just answer me…"

Caroline took a time to think about it when she realized that he was being serious.

"The man that my best friend is in love with and the brother of my best friend…" she answered.

"You don`t see me as the man that once manipulated you? Abused you? Tried to kill you?"

"No…" she said honestly. "Not anymore…"

"How could you?" he asked truly curious. "How could you forget all the things I`ve done to you… Please, make me understand so I can do the same, so I can forgive myself the way you clearly have forgiven me…"

"Damon… That is not something that can be taught…" she answered. "Either you have it or not… It`s true that, at the beginning I couldn`t even stand the idea of being with you in the same room, but…"

"You never show it though… Why?"

"For Elena…" she answered automatically. "Because I love her and because I know how much you two love each other …"

"So you forgave me, because of her?"

"Not just because of her Damon, because of you too… I can see how you`re changing, every day, towards the best… You are making a huge effort here and I would be damned if I didn`t appreciated that!"

"When I think of everything that I`ve done to you, how I almost got you killed…"

"But you didn't! I`m still alive and well and I forgave you! The best thing you can do for yourself and for Elena is to forget about all of this and to move on… Your apology is accepted Damon… You may have never said the words, but I could see the regret in your eyes every time you looked at me. Even when you were trying to hide it behind all… that…"

She gestured at him with her hand.

The two vampires exchanged warm looks for the first time in awhile.

"And besides…" Caroline added looking down. "I would be a hypocrite if I acted like I don`t believe there`s a good in you beyond all that hostility. I do believe people can change, I`ve seen they change… Like you did, Like Stefan did, Like Elena, Like-"

"Klaus did?" Damon finished her sentence smiling. "It all goes down to him… Doesn`t it?"

Caroline run her hands through her hair, she didn`t know what to answer.

"I should hate him…" she whispered. "I do hate him…"

"You hate him, because he made you fall in love with him…" he said. "Don't you?"

"I know it`s a messed up logic…" she said half laughing nervously. "But it kind of makes sense…"

Damon just shrugged. He offered her a drink and she was willing to take it although she didn`t drunk it.

"He loves you, you know…" Damon murmured after a few silenced minutes. "Klaus…"

"How do you-?"

"It`s obvious…" he interrupted. "But there was one moment when I was curtained he does… When he murdered Carol Lockwood"

"What?!" she whispered.

"I was compelled by Koll to kill Jeremy back then and Klaus was supposed to babysit me. He had so many things going on and yet in all that mess he was searching a way to make you forgive him about his murder spread. And let`s not forget about him letting Tyler go…"

"He did what?" now she was shocked.

"The night of the ball, when Elena had her humanity switch off, Silas got to me and lured me into the woods. On my way out, I found myself close to the Lockwood property… And I heard them… He let him go for you, Caroline… Because he knew if he killed him you would`ve never forgiven him."

"I knew he wasn`t trying to find him…" she whispered. "But I had no idea he`d let him go if he was standing right in front of him…"

"People like him don`t forgive easily…" he stated. "Trust me…"

"Even if he does have feeling for me… How can I be with him when he had destroyed so many of the people I love…? When his entire family had threatened almost everyone I`ve ever cared about…? How can I forgive him?"

"You forgave me…"

"Yeah, cause you`ve changed… He hasn`t… He still is good around me and bad around everyone else… I may not fear for my own life. But I fear for everyone else`s… The beast within him, it hasn`t been tamed. And I`m not sure I`m the right person to tame him…"

"Maybe in his own way, he tries… Maybe this child is really his salvation…"

"But she`s far away from him, and he grows more savage every day, Damon…"

"Then help him…" he responded. "You can help him find the way, like Elena did with me…"

"I don`t know I`m enough anymore… I did try to kill his daughter, after all…"

"But he spared your life, didn`t he?" he argued. "Maybe he has forgiven you…"

"I strongly doubt that…"

She took a sip from the glass...

A few more silenced minutes passed. And then it happened…

She could burst out of laughter.

"What?" Damon asked amused.

"Nothing… it's just… If anyone told me a few months ago that I would be sitting with Damon Salvatore in a safe house in New Orleans, drinking scotch and talking about the possibility of Klaus`s redemption… I would at least think he was a crazy lunatic!"

"That makes two of us!" Damon said touching her glass with his. "You know you`re not quite as neurotic as a remembered you…"

"And you`re not as dick headed narcissist as I remembered too!" she replied.

They both laughed for a few minutes and after a few seconds pause, Damon spoke again…

"Thank you, Blondie!" he said smiling and Caroline smiled back.

"**Davina?" Caroline yelled in the night.** "Come on Davina I`ve heard your footsteps. I know you`re here!"

She heard multiple whooshes and she suddenly knew it wasn`t Davina she was dealing with…

"Hello?" she yelled getting closer to the woods. "Is anyone there?"

No one answered.

A few more steps close to the woods…

"Elijah? Is that you?" she was almost scared now. "Look, I still have one hour, my time is not up yet!"

A low chuckle and a whoosh was all she heard in response.

And just when she was about to turn around and run for her life, something jumper from the tree above her and landed on her.

Suddenly her hands were immobilized, pinned above her head.

"Let me go! What are you doing?!"

"Shhhh, hush now, gorgeous!" he whispered. "We don`t want the whole New Orleans to hear us now, do we?!"

"Enzo?!" her voice was shattered with relief and anger. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Surviving…" he said.

Something in his eyes looked so unreliable that moment and Caroline decided to run for the heels. She fooled him with the oldest trick in the bible: woman seduction. She kissed him and when he cut his looses she snapped out of his hold and snapped his neck…

Caroline run to the opposite direction, she had almost managed to get out of the woods when she run into someone.

"Are you in a hurry, darling?" asked Koll Mikaelson. "Can I help you with anything?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Well, Davina sent me…"

"Is she okay? Why didn`t he came herself?" she asked out of breath while speaking.

A devilish smile spread on his face.

"She`s fine…" he said. "You on the other hand…"

Caroline took a step back when Koll took a step closer.

"You shouldn`t wander in the woods so late at night, love… Didn`t you mamma taught you there are dangerous creatures out there… Well, except, yourself, of course…"

"If you kill me, Davina will figure it out! They`ll know you did this…"

"Kill you?!" Koll seemed surprised. "Oh, I don`t want to kill you darling… I`m just here to abduct you… And if you worry about your friends I'll just tell them that I waited for you and you never came…"

"They won`t believe you!" she insisted. "They`ll figure it out…"

"Oh, I doubt that … Especially when Enzo tells them it`s true…"

She then tried to flee, but Koll manage to catch her on time.

"Sorry love… but you`re coming with me… After all, you need to meet the rest of our family…"

**Okay, I`m back…**

**I`ll be writing more tactically from now on, I promise **

**Next chapter: Caroline and Klaus flashback… Caroline and Enzo ft. Koll ;) Mikael and Klaus (surely not holding hands) and some quite tense Elijah-Hayley-Klaus scenes too. Oh, and Cami`s funeral…**

**And this time I know for sure all the above will be included… the next chapter will be a huge one, be prepared…**

**Thanks For Reading, looking forward to the reviews…**

**T.J.**


	9. Chapter 8

**WARNING: there is a new creature referred in the story a ****succubus****. It`s the only new supernatural creature I`ll be adding in this story and I will proceed at exploring it more if you have no problem with it. So let me know if you do.**

**Thanks for the reviews guys and let me know what you are thinking about this new development…**

CHAPTER 8: RESCUE

_**Atlanta 1997,**_

Klaus Michelson was walking down the dark alley. He was just returning home from a good night hunt and was smiling vividly. It was his last night in the new world and of course he enjoyed it to the fullest, drinking a whole bar`s alcohol dry along with everyone in it. He was debating if he would cover his trucks or not, if he should sent someone to clean up his mess… But he decided not to. A massacre like this would probably draw Michel`s attention and that was the best cover he could ever think of, his father searching him in USA while he was in the old world…

He would leave the next morning with the first light, after of course, he`d paid Greta a visit. She was young witch he had encountered a few days ago and she was blindly loyal to him from the first minute… Of course he wouldn`t leave her behind… And of course, the Martin witches would be angry but… That was their problem now, wasn't it?!

A dark smile spread on his vicious face, but it hadn`t last long. He was miserable, although he would never admit it. It had been centuries ever since he saw Elijah and nearly a hundred years had passed since he had daggered Rebecca… He missed his family enormously; he missed a good company… Maybe now that some time had passed he could search for his old friend, Stefan Salvatore in the old world. He could make him remember himself, but not Rebecca of course… They could spend some quality time and he wouldn`t have to worry about Michel, not with all these witches at his side…

"Get away from me!"

He heard a little girl`s cry shuttering the night`s silence into pieces. He suddenly sped from where he had heard the voice curious as to what was going on and desperate to get his mind off of the depressing thoughts he was having. He was Nicklaus Michelson, the original vampire the world dreaded, he wouldn`t let himself… _feel_…

A frightened little girl was cornered by a group of older children in the alley. She was with her back against the wall, holding a wooden stick pointing at one of the three boys fiercely commanding them to leave her alone, while the two girls accompanying them chuckled. She had a spark in her eyes that said she wouldn`t take no for an answer as she glared at them.

"What will you do with that fat corn?" said one of the boys laughingly while the rest of the group laughed.

"Oh, no Caroline is holding a stick she`s going to kill us please, please don`t…" one of the other boys faked terror as the rest of them laughed again.

"Scared, little girl?" said the boy again. "Not so tough right now are you?"

The girl was obviously scared but she also was fiercely against of showing any emotions to them or even more, giving in without a fight. The boys were holding baseball buts and the girls wooden sticks that looked just like the one the little blond girl was holding. It was obvious what they were about to do… They had cornered her to bit her up!

"All right, everyone… the fun is over…" Klaus found himself saying as he walked away from the shadows and stood in front of the kids. He wasn`t planning on doing anything but suddenly he found himself compelling the kids to apologize to the blond girl, to go straight home and never to bother her again.

"Are you ok little girl?" he said turning towards her.

"I`m fine…" she said proudly.

"I believe a thank you is in order…" he said kneeling to look at the little girl in the eye.

"I didn`t ask for your help…" she said stubbornly lifting her chin up.

Klaus laughed.

"Oh really?" he said amused by her undeniable bravery. "What is your name little girl?"

"_Mulan_…" the girl lied, causing Klaus another smile. "And I don`t talk to strangers…"

"Oh, but you know that I wouldn`t hurt you love, I just saved you from these bad boys…"

"I didn`t needed your help, I could have taken care of them myself…" she said proudly.

Klaus laughed again, his earlier mood already forgotten.

"Is that so…?" he asked still smiling. "Well… _Mulan_… What were you doing all alone in the streets at night?"

"I was going to see my dead… I`m staying at my aunt here for a few days so I sneaked out and decided to go see my dead…"

"Your dad?" he asked confused.

"He`s living with his boyfriend… I`m going to see him…" she said. "What were _you_ doing in the streets so late at night?" she asked him demanding answers.

Klaus couldn`t help another smile.

"Just taking care of little girls like yourself…" he replied smiling again when she frowned. "Why were they attacking you?"

"Because I`m fat… And ugly… They were laughing at me…"she said looking down.

It was Klaus` turn to frown.

"They told you that?" he asked and she nodded.

For some inexplicable reason Klaus felt the need to reassure her that was not the truth.

"They`re just jealous…" he said putting a hand on her little shoulder as he compelled her to believe his words. "You are the most beautiful girl in the world… You are smart, you are not fat… Hell, you're gonna win a beauty conquest one day… And you will never believe the awful things bad people say about you, do you understand me?"

The girl nodded and smile.

"You`re gonna forget everything that happened tonight to you and you`re gonna go and leave a full and happy life… Go home, be careful and be safe…"

He then blew a kiss on her forehead before saying:

"I hope we meet again one day, Caroline…"

And with a thin air whoosh, he was gone…

_**New Orleans, Present Day. **_

He watched the black coffin disappear behind the dirt and a single tear escaped his eyes as he said his goodbyes inside him… After all, he did like Cami… Everyone else had left, everyone except Elijah who remained with him in the cemetery until he felt like hitting to the Royal Street…

They walked in silence and only when they got home did he turned to speak to Elijah.

"So let me get this straight…" said Klaus with an angry tone to his brother who had kindly escorted him from the airdrome to the funeral and then back to the compound and had just in minutes explained to him the recent developments within his kingdom when he, the king of shadows was absent.

"I was only gone for what?! Forty eight hours? And I return to find out that Camille is dead, for real… Caroline is abducted potentially by one of our parents, Hayley is gone, probably missing, and we have a new enemy lurking in the French Quarter, of whom we know next to what brother? Oh yes… NOTHING! … Is there anything else that happened that I`m not aware of which confirms how incompetent you are to rule my empire even for a day Elijah?!"

"No brother, I think that`s quite it…" said he always maintaining his calm stance.

"What the hell is that?!" he inquired seeing guests arriving in the compound.

"Yeah, about that…" said the eldest Michelson. "Caroline was sort of the organizer of Camille`s funeral and she thought it would be best to cancel the burial ceremony, to wait until your arrival. She also thought that you would like to honor her memory by organizing a sort of ceremony in here…"

Klaus sighted heavily…

"She wants to apologize…" he realized.

"Yes, she said as mach before she left…" Elijah answered.

"Why did you let her go?! Why didn`t you stopped her from leaving…"

"Well, she said she wanted to meet her friends… And she said that this was something you would allow her to do… that you would have let her go…"

"The hell I would!" he yelled. "I would`ve locked her up and chained her if it meant keeping her safe! And where are her useless friends anyway? Why did they let that happen to her?!"

"They`re in the woods trying to find her…"

"But there is no scent of her anywhere near Bayou…" said Tyler entering the room.

Klaus looked at him astonished and disgusted, like he was looking to a rat that had unexpectedly sneaked into the room.

"Tyler Lockwood…" he announced looking at him hatefully. "The last person I ever expected or wanted to see in this world for at least the next few centuries."

"I can`t say the feelings aren't mutual!" the boy retorted.

"Do you still have a death wish?!" Klaus was angry now.

"I came to help my friend!" he retorted proudly. "Whatever happened between the two of you aside… I love her and I will do everything I can to help her, as I`m sure she would do for me too."

"Well I don`t need your help!" Klaus yelled angrily at his face. "I am perfectly capable of solving any problems within my empire without armatures getting in my way, thank you very much!"

"Really, then why is she still missing?!" Tyler teased.

"Because I haven`t even started searching for her yet!" Klaus retorted. "And if you want to be still alive when I find her, mind your bloody attitude!"

"Everyone, just calm down…" Elijah said to both of them interrupting Tyler from whatever he was about to say. "We need to stay focused in the task at hand, we need to find where and who has abducted the girls…"

"I`m only here for Caroline…" Tyler declared. "I stopped caring about Hayley when she rutted me out on Klaus..."

"Listen to me very carefully, young man…" said Elijah to the boy. "I recall perfectly the results of your previous visit in this city. I haven`t forgotten what you did to Hayley while she was pregnant so if you do so much as value your life, you would walk away, right now… While you still can…"

"I don`t have time for this Elijah…" Klaus declared. "Sent a werewolf searching party to Bayou, tell them literally not to leave a leaf in the woods unchecked… And get this brat to talk to the rest of Caroline`s friends." He said pointing at Tyler. "I want them all gathered in my library before this evening including the young witch, Davina… And call Marcellus; tell him to bring in the new recruits…"

"Where are you going?" asked the oldest Michelson.

"To see our beloved mother, of course…" he replied with a bitter voice before he took off.

**She woke up on a table freezing cold, **with a headache and a bleeding head. On her way to consciousness she recalled hearing them talking… But she couldn`t distinguish if it was a dream or reality.

"… can`t do this…" a familiar male voice said… It was Koll. "He may not care, but it will blow my cover!"

"What if she helps us? What if we convince her to side with us? …" Enzo asked.

"She will never cross Nick Klaus again…" Koll replied.

"You don`t know that…"

"I think she`s awake…" said an unknown female voice.

A minute passed before the two guys busted the doors open while Caroline was trying to stand on her feet.

"What did she do to me…" she whispered fighting to get up from the table.

She then took a look around the room. It was a ruin… the light outside was dying, it must have been past afternoon and an uneasy feeling settled inside her neck which indicated she was hungry. She hadn`t fed for days… Since Camille had died actually…

"Easy, gorgeous!" said Enzo helping her to stand. "You`re weak…"

She refused to accept his help blowing him away and trying to summon her fangs… She failed… Vervain, she thought, I must`ve been… They probably got it into her system to weaken her… That`s where the ache came from…

"Stay away from me!" she yelled at him.

"Come now Darling!" Koll interfered catching her from her wrists and forcing her to sit on the table. "We all want the same thing here…"

"I seriously doubt that!" she cried out weak but fierce at the same time.

Only then did she notice the woman standing a few fetes away, staring at her intensely.

"God…" the woman whispered amazed. "You look so much like her…"

"Excuse me?" Caroline said confused.

The witch took a few steps closer and then she stopped in the middle of the room. She had long dark hair and dark eyes. She wore a plain black dress that reached the floor. The only thing that wasn`t black on her was a necklace, a silver necklace which looked like a heart and had a huge red diamond in the middle of it.

"You must be Caroline…" she said smiling.

"And you must be the wicked witch of the Quarter." She retorted sternly, crossing her hands.

"Careful now…" the witch said. "Unlike my sister I`m not used to irony and I don`t forgive insults."

She then turned to the boys.

"I will be gone for awhile… I need to collect some herbs for the spell… I`ll be back till nightfall…" she talked like she demanded to be heard, proudly? … No, arrogantly…

She then left the room that went silent for a few long minutes before the blond girl decided to speak up.

"So… Any one of you two traitorous bastards cares to share info about the evil witch?" she snapped and when the boys didn`t answer she added. "You have nothing to say?!"

"Yeah, we don`t like insults either…" Koll stated.

"Enzo…?" she then turned to him demandingly.

The dark haired vampire looked at the original boy and then turned back to her friend and sighted heavily before speaking.

"Her name is Dalia, she`s Esters sister and we are not betraying anyone, we`re actually helping…"

"God, you just can`t resist her, can you?!" said Koll amused.

"Oh, shut up!" Caroline yelled. "If Klaus finds out that you cooperating with his new enemy, he`ll kill you…"

"He won`t have the chance…" the boy stated. "And even if he suspects that I`m going behind his back, you will have to convince him that it`s not true…"

"And why should I help you?!" the girl inquired.

"Because if you don`t" Enzo interfered. "She`ll kill us all…"

"If I do, Klaus will kill us all!" the girl hissed.

"Listen, darling… I`ve spent too much time trying to come back from the land of the dead, I`m not planning on going back there any time soon!" Koll stated. "But I will have no problem to send you there…"

"All right, that`s enough Koll…" said Enzo putting an arm on his shoulder and holding him back then turning back to Caroline he added."Here`s the thing gorgeous, we can all benefit from this alliance with the witch… She can make everything we ever wanted come true… She can bring back Bonnie… And you did say you were willing to do anything it took to bring Bonnie back…"

"Except from helping an evil witch slut kill an innocent baby to do it!" she yelled. "Even if I was willing to do this- and I`m not, Bonnie would hate me forever if I someone died because of her, especially a child…"

The two boys exchanged looks.

"I think we should tell her…" Enzo stated.

"Use your brains, she won`t accept to do it if she knows the whole truth…"

"We can trust her… I know…" Enzo insisted. "She`s willing to sacrifice herself for the people she loves too Koll…"

The blond girl listened to their ping pong like chatter as patiently as she could. Until the impatient and curious Caroline we all know and love, won over and exploded.

"Ok, what is going on?! Why am I not part of this conversation?! What are you hiding from me?!" she yelled.

Enzo turned to her and used his secretive voice while he spoke the next words.

"We are not really helping Dalia, we`re doing all this for Ester... And after what I`m about to tell you, you`ll help us too… Without hesitation…"

"**You have ten seconds until I decide to rip your heart out of your chest…"** said Klaus to his mother so casually you`d think he was talking about the weather.

"I told you, I don`t know where she is…" she replied calmly.

Klaus sighted.

"Five seconds…" he said.

"I don`t know where she is!" she raised her voice

"Two…"

"All right wait!" she said raising her hands in the air. "I don`t know where she is, but I can find her… I can cast a locator spell to find her… Do you have anything that belongs to her so I could make a connection?"

His cell phone buzzed right then and he picked it up immediately while looking angrily at his mother.

"Tell me you found her Elijah…" he said impatiently.

"The wolves caught Hayley`s scent, but there is no sign of Caroline`s…"

He closed his eyes inhaling deeply.

"Nick Klaus?" Elijah asked him intently. "We`re waiting for your order…"

It was the first time Klaus had ever heard Elijah`s voice tremble… As if he was secretly pleading to give the order…

"Go…" his brother said with grief. "Don`t waste a chance of finding her… I`ll search for Caroline by myself…"

There were a few silenced seconds before any of them spoke.

"I`ll be at your side as soon as I make sure she`s ok, brother… I promise…"

"No need…" he replied. "Go straight at the compound, I`ll meet you all there with a plan…"

He hung up and looked at his mother suspiciously.

"You know, if you fool me…" he threatened. "You better find a new body to jump in to soon… Because I`ll tear this one limp from limp, just for sport!"

He watched his mother nod right before he took a little white cloth out of his jacket packet. Inside it, there was a flock of hairs, a beautiful blond curl… Klaus looked at it longingly as he remembered how he cut it up from her hair one morning while she was still sleeping peacefully on his bed and then with a sight, he gave it to his mother…

"It`s hers…" he said giving it up unwillingly. "Just hurry up, and find her…"

"**Fasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Sequitas Sanguinem…" **chanted the witch three or four times before opening her eyes…

"Hm… Interesting…" she stated.

"I see you`re a fan of traditional magic…" Koll said playing along with a sharp object that looked like steel.

"It has its perks…" she replied. "Dark magic is stronger and most reliable if you want to locate someone, but when you want to glimpse at their present location…"

"I know all about magic… Or have you forgotten who you`re talking to…" Koll retorted almost insulted.

"Actually I was explaining it to them… Not everyone has our knowledge Koll…" she then cleared the table from the ingredients she had used and putted a clean unused bowl on it. "It seems like your boyfriend`s desperate…"

Caroline, to whom her words were directed, looked at her confused.

"I don`t have a boyfriend…"she said.

The witch frowned.

"That can`t be true…" the witch declared… "Nick Klaus is siding with his sworn enemy to find you and you tell me that he hasn`t pursued you?! I sure as hell do not believe that!"

"Believe what you want he is not… We are not… I mean, he hasn`t… We don`t…" The witch rose and eyebrow at the girl`s senseless rumbling.

"It`s complicated, ok?!" the blond girl finally shout out sitting hands crossed on chest on the only chair in the room in front of the table.

Both of the British men chuckled at her expense, while the witch remained impassive to her words.

"It always is my dear…" she replied.

"So are you gonna tell me what are you planning on doing with me?" the blond vampire inquired.

"And spoil all the fun?!" she retorted smiling viciously.

"Well if I`m going to die, the least you can do is to tell me the truth about why I`m dying…" she replied.

The witch smiled.

"Bad blood…" was all she said.

Caroline glanced around the room at the guys as if expecting them to enlighten her. They didn't.

"That`s it? That`s all I got?! Bad blood?!" she said laughing hysterically.

The witch stopped chanting and looked at her curiously.

"You have no idea what you truly are, have you?" she asked. "Who you`re descended from…"

"No…" said the blond vampire. "But I`ve got a feeling that you do…"

"You are descendant of Anastasia Ivanovich… She was a slave girl, the first that had ever married her master back in 16th century… "

"Did she compel him to?" she inquired.

"No!" said the woman disgusted. "She was not a vampire!"

"Then what was she?"

She felt like the two men disappeared in the background as they stood completely still. They were listening with caution. Obviously they didn`t know the story either. In that moment, Caroline felt like they were alone, the witch and her, just the two of them speaking… It was a strange de ja vu feeling like she was about to tell her something she already knew but couldn`t remember what.

"Anastasia was a succubus… the last of her kind…" she stated. "And you were the same thing she was before you turned…"

The room went still. No one spoke. Caroline pressed her lips together tightly and fiercely but she couldn`t stop her smile from slowly spreading on her face. Her giggles started quietly vibrating through her chest and then it went louder… and louder… like someone was slowly turning on the volume, until her laughter filled the room, echoing through the halls…

"Ghod, seriously?!" she managed to say in between her laughs.

"I`m glad you find it so amusing, because this is as fun as it gets… then starts the bad part…" the witch stated. "Now, I understand that you wish for your friend to come back, she`s a Bennett witch right?"

Caroline nodded in agreement suddenly getting semiserious.

"My sister will bring her back while I take my time to gather every ingredient I need for the spell. We`ve reached an agreement…"

"You made a deal with Ester?!" Koll asked surprised.

"Of course… After all she`s my sister…" her tone was almost laughably dramatic.

"In times like that I thank god I`m an only child…" Enzo commented.

"Hold on a second!" Caroline cried out. "You don`t really believe her do you? I mean seriously? Succubus?! Are you kidding me?!"

"You`d wish I was…" the witch retorted. "But it`s true, you were like her…Of curse you were not even close to how strong she was… That`s because she was the last of her kind and her mating with a human and their descendants afterwards… Well let`s just say the blood mingling didn`t help the succubus to maintain their strength… The fact that the succubus was always mating with humans, made every generation weaker than the former. They used to be immortal, but they`ve lost that too, over the centuries."

"I still don`t understand…" she murmured.

"Your blood, Caroline… your sacrifice as an immortal vampire and then as a succubus will fuel more of my powers than any of Ester`s children descendants would ever had." The witch stated. "Succubuses were feared amongst the witches for their strength and intelligence, so we cursed them into mortal bodies, tried to kill them… We failed at first… We almost lost the battle… The black hearts had a difficult time on killing them but they succeeded …"

"What`s the black hearts?" Caroline asked.

"It's a mystical society of witches…" Koll answered startling her. She had almost forgotten his presence. "I`ll explain it to you some other time… Go on with the story Dalia…"

"You see I was willing to help them, the black hearts… But I needed the power the succubus could offer me seeing my sister had made her children vampires and I hadn`t had any more firstborns from her line to extract my powers from... So I decided to save one of them after I discovered that their powers could be stolen and passed down to me… Unfortunately they found out about my plans after a few months, before I could extract the power from Anastasia and went after me… The girl fled to the old world and I was left to deal with the witches… I have Cassandra to thank for remaining alive, a girl no older than you, who sacrificed herself for the greater cause."

"All right, that`s enough history for today!" said Enzo getting up from the staircase he was sitting on. "I always hated history lessons… I have to go… the _king _has called a meeting and I can`t defy him. Actually I could but that would raise suspicion… "

"Wait Klaus is calling a meeting? Why, what happened?"

"Am, dah, you disappeared!" Enzo said like he was stating the obvious. "And Hayley is missing… He literally is scanning every corner on New Orleans to find you?"

"Can he find us?" she asked confused.

"We are not in New Orleans gorgeous…"he said smiling. "Are you coming Koll?"

"I think it`s better if we don`t go to the compound together… Nick will figure out something`s off if we suddenly start showing up together everywhere…"

"Maybe he`ll think you`re dating…" Caroline teased.

"Do you have a death wish Darling?" Koll responded too amused to sound angry.

"Hey, leave her alone!" said Enzo eyeing him.

"Unfortunately I can`t kill her…" Koll sight and Enzo leaved a few minutes later.

"What now?" She asked.

"Now, I will explain what is it that you`re doing here and what you`re going to do from now on…" Koll answered. "You have to understand what it is that we`re doing here…"

"Why should I trust you?" Caroline asked. "Why should I do what you want?"

"I don`t know…" he answered. "Just follow your instincts… If any part of you is still a succubus, you`ll know I`m not lying…"

Koll Michelson explained the plan to the lady very patiently. And to his surprise she got it right away. The witch remained in the room doing her thing, occasionally interrupting to remind Koll something he had forgotten. It sounded like an easy plan… But none of it would be easy… She knew that…

Unfortunately, she knew Klaus too well to believe he would just let go something like that… Again, she had to go behind his back. So if she succeeded Klaus would kill her and if she didn`t she would die… In any case she would end up dead…

_Great!_ She thought to herself.

_Maybe he`ll appreciate it… _a more optimist part of her thought. But it was more like a wish… She didn`t really believe he would of just let something like that go…

And she was right…

"**And why should we help her?!"** Hayley demanded to know. "That bitch tried to kill my baby… Your daughter Klaus! Does that not bother you anything at all?"

"My feelings are none of your business little wolf!" he said as calmly as he could. "And if you insult her again you`ll put me at the awkward position of having to explain to my daughter one day why I had to rip her mother`s heart from her chest!"

"Nicklaus, that is enough…" Elijah said angrily to his little brother at the same time that Hayley exclaimed:

"Are you kidding me?! Did you forget what she-?!"

"I killed the man I have been wanting to meet my entire existence just because I thought I couldn`t trust him about Hope!" Klaus exclaimed just inches away from her face. "My father! My real father... Do you really think that if even a little part of me believed Caroline was a threat to my child, I would let her live to see another day?!"

Hayley went silent… She knew he was being honest…

"Whatever my feeling are for her, Hayley…" he said relatively calmer putting a hand on her shoulder. "I would never risk Hope`s well being, not even for Caroline… And be sure, she would never do anything to harm our daughter… Now, please… Get your werewolves ready…"

"Ok…" she whispered. "But there is something I wanted to tell you… before all this goes down…"

"What now?" Klaus asked.

She couldn`t help stealing a glance from Elijah before looking down again.

"I`m getting married…" she said almost inaudibly.

If the two originals hadn`t had supernatural senses, they would`ve missed it…

Elijah looked at her intently, like he was willing her to take her words back. She didn`t… Klaus just gaped surprised looking at her like she had just grown two heads.

"Well, I wasn`t aware Elijah proposed you…" he said smiling pleased. "We will throw a party after we rescue Caroline from-"

"I didn`t…" Elijah said a little too late.

"What?" his brother asked.

"Propose her… I … I didn`t…" replied the oldest Michelson not taking his astonished and disappointed eyes off of the now hybrid girl. "Brother could you... Just … Give us a moment? It won`t take long…"

It was the first time Klaus ever heard Elijah stumbling on his words. He left the room after murmuring something like: I`ll be waiting outside…

"I have no choice Elijah…" Hayley murmured finally looking into his eyes. "My pack needs me… They need my powers… And I`m not gonna let some witches to enslave two royal packs…"

The original vampire listened carefully before he spoke.

"Do you love him?" he asked at last, narrowing his eyes at her.

"What?" she whispered.

"You heard me…" he took a step closer and Hayley blinked looking down.

"I could…" her voice coughed on the last word, so she tried again. "I could… love him… one day…"

"Do you love him now?!" he repeated standing right in front of her, only inches away from her face.

She wasn`t looking at him… She wouldn`t be able to stop herself from reaching out for a kiss if she did… _God, when did he get so close!_ She thought.

"It don`t matter what I feel…"she said. "I`m their leader… I have to… I mean we all have to give up things we want for…"

Elijah captured her face in between his hands ignoring her protests and held her gaze until she returned it.

"Look at me…" he whispered inches away from her lips, and she did what he asked.

"Please don`t make this harder… I can`t…" she tried to say.

"Shhh… There was only one reason I would let you walk away from me Hayley… Only if you had told me that you loved him, would I let you go… But I`m not gonna let you do this out of some mischievous feeling of duty towards anyone… I am not gonna let you marry him…"

"Elijah you have no right to interfere-"

Suddenly his lips were on hers silencing her from whatever she was about to say. The girl protested at first but then gave in. The kiss started sweetly but with every second it got more passionate…

When they parted again, they were both out of breath. Elijah kept her head between his hands and kissed her lips once more softly…

"Cancel the wedding…" it was a command. "We`ll find another way… No, no arguments." He added when she started protesting. "We`ll talk more when we return..."

Klaus was waiting for them outside the compound.

"I sent the rest of them to hold their positions…"he said. "Are you two ready?"

"The pack is on its way to the witch`s house… They`re gonna lay low until I give them the green light for murder spree…" Hayley retorted a few seconds behind Elijah.

"All right then…" said Klaus with a dangerous gleam in his eyes… "Time for the evil witch to pay the piper…"

**When Klaus Michelson arrived to the small cottage**, the moon was fully on, literally on the center of the dark sky…

He invaded the house, smashing the door to pieces and found Caroline lying on a table in the middle of the room with a dagger in her heart, blood everywhere. For a moment he froze thinking it was a wooden stake but it was just a common dagger... She was twisting and turning trying to get it out of her chest, but she couldn`t manage to do it…

Klaus rushed on her side and hastily removed the dagger. She started healing immediately but he offered his blood anyway.

"I`m a vampire Klaus…" she said smiling weakly. "It`ll heal in a few minutes…"

"We could speed up the process…" he insisted.

"I`m fine, really…" she forced another smile on her face.

He then took her carefully in her arms and hugged her like she was made of a fragile material. She inhaled his reach aroma and felt dizziness immediately. Her hands went straight up to his back while her head rested on his shoulder.

"Don`t ever do this to me again, or I`ll kill you myself, do you understand me?!" he whispered with a trembling voice.

In another circumstances she would be angry at him that he had talked to her like that, but the concern and the despair he has been feeling this past few hours were, clearly audible in his voice and they had moved her deeply.

"Thank you…" she whispered when she eventually withdrew involuntarily from his hold. "For saving me for what it`s most likely a thousandth time!"

Klaus frowned.

"No need to count them down…" he said stroking her hair and looking straight into her eyes lovingly. "I will always protect you, love… For as long as I exist, you`re not gonna get rid of me that easily…"

His lips softly brushed hers and though she was tired she felt an insatiable hanger to do so much more than just to kiss him.

"Caroline…" Elena interrupted them.

Caroline abruptly returned to reality…

They didn`t manage to say much because they were attacked… Or more precisely their friends outside were attacked…

"Stay here…" he said to Caroline.

"No, I want to help…" she complained.

"Stay here, Caroline!"

"But-"

"Can you for once in your life do as you`re told?!" he said quietly but intimidating.

"No!"

"Don't make me compel you, love… I`ll be back in a few minutes…"

"Ugh! Why does he have to be so bossy?!" she yelled.

"He`s Klaus…" said Elena like it was obvious why. "Are you okay?"

"Not you too… I`m feeling fine, the wound is completely healed…"

A few moments of awkward silence filled the room. The two girls were listening to the battle sounds from the outside… And they were watching the fight from the window… Their enemies were laughably outmatched.

"Did you mean what you said?" Elena suddenly blurted out.

"Mean what?" the blond replied looking down.

"Come on Care, you know what I mean… You really meant all these things you said…"

"Did you mean any of the things you said to me when you turned your humanity switch off?" Caroline inquired. "Answer that Elena. And you`ll have my answer too…"

Elena went skeptical for awhile and then, when she was about to answer a loud terrible sound filled the room… They both turned around, fangs ready and pointed at the intruder. They didn`t manage to do much… It was Michel…

In an instant he broke the brunette girl`s head and caught the other girl from her waist before he disappeared in the woods…

"**What the hell took you so long?!"** said Klaus growling at Ester as she entered the room.

Everyone was there. The original family, the Salvatore brothers, Elena, Rick, the two witches… Even Tyler and Marcel…

"Someone was fighting my locator spell… the other witch I presume…" she replied. "I couldn`t exactly locate where she was but I saw who abducted her and I think I recognized the place…"

"Was it the same person that attached Hayley?" Elena asked.

"No… It`s Michael…"

Everyone went still. The vampire gung from Mystic Falls turned to look at Klaus… So did the original vampires and the two witches in the room… The only one looking like a fish out of water was Enzo…

"All right…" he said. "Why is everyone looking at the original hybrid doggie?"

Klaus` face turned murderous and the two Salvatore brothers both stepped in front of their British friend when the hybrid made an aggressive move towards him…

"Easy there mate… That`s what she used to call you when she was angry and I sort of got used to it…"

"Well if I hear you ever repeat that, you`ll have to invent a way to get used to living without your basic organs in their places… Like your heart for example…"

"Don`t you even get bored of threatening everyone?" Elena asked bored. "And you can`t kill him… If you kill her breakfast buddy, Caroline will hate you forever…"

"I don`t think she would mind if I offered to replace him…" he then putted one finger on his nose while smiling devilishly. "In fact, I think that she spent all this time with you only because you reminded her of me…"

His smile widened when Enzo frowned.

"Nick Klaus, stop antagonizing and concentrate" Ester interfered. "Every minute that passes she`s in pane…"

Klaus` face changed from teasing to murderously furious in an instant.

"Where does he have her?" he demanded to know.

"I have to warn you… If you got to her rescue there… I cannot help you… My powers are useless in that place… I can`t protect you from-"

"I can kill Michel on my worst day mother, and stop pretending to care. The role of a concerned mother does not suit you… Now, where is she?!" he raised his voice with every sentence.

"Across the Mississippi River… at the old dungeons you`ve created…" she said. "He holds her in one of the cages… Vervain stings everywhere… "

"Does he? …" Klaus stumbled on words looking more concerned than angry now… "Tell me that he doesn`t… Tell me he don`t feed from her mother!"

Ester didn`t answered but Klaus knew that what he just suspected was true…

He stormed out of the room heading straight to the place his mother had told him with the rest of the gung right behind him. He didn`t care if they were following him or not, he didn`t need them... He would be the one to kill that monster once and for all. This would end then and there… The final battle, the final showdown between them would be tonight…

**Ok, I swear this is the last time I ever parted Caroline and Klaus… After they are reunited in the next chapter I will not part their ways for at least 5 chapters. And you`ll see some surprises.**

**I didn`t put Michel here because it`s already a huge chapter I didn`t want to bore you.**

**For those who asked, there is an Elena-Elijah conversation on the way. Enzo will turn to the dark side and Koll`s intentions will be questioned. **

**And yes, Caroline ****will**** corporate with Ester, but don`t worry, she`ll get her revenge eventually.**

**Please review to tell me how this new developments are sinking in.**

**I want to hear honest opinions…**

**Thanks for reading… **

**T.J. **


	10. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9: DECLARATIONS**

"**It's not the size of the dog in the fight,**

**It`s the size of the fight in the dog…"**

**Mark Twain.**

* * *

><p>Her body trembled immensely because of the chilling air. Once again, she was in complete darkness.<p>

_Damn it! Can`t they find a warm place for a change?! _She thought angrily. If she wasn`t a vampire he would`ve caught a very serious cold in the last 24 hours.

"Ouch!" she screamed as she moved and something burned her. So much for being cold…

"What the hell?!" she cursed as she moved again and something burned her… again.

She looked around using her vampire sight to readjust her eyes so she could see in the darkness. She was in room full of cages made of iron. The cages where everywhere above her, next to her… The entire room seemed to be full of them… the cages were so small that it was difficult to sit down without touching the bars, fortunately they were tall enough to allow you to stand… she was in one of the small cages herself and every time she moves she was touching the iron bars and something seemed to burn them…

"Vervain…" she figured.

_Oh, not again! What was that for now?!_

"Well, well… Aren`t you smart?!" said a strong male voice with British accent.

She turned around to see a small male figure with black clothes that she could barely distinguish in the darkness. _Why is that all the bad guys are mainly British? _She wondered thinking of – whom else?! – Klaus… This man however was not just a young boy, he was middle aged man, with sharp eyes and stern look, and she had never seen him again.

"Usually it takes them more than five seconds to understand what`s going on…" said the man again. "Nicklaus has chosen a smart blond this time… I hope you taste better too…"

Before she could ask for the meaning of his words, his eyes turned red and veins appeared underneath his eyes. His fangs were the last thing she saw before they sunk in her neck. She screamed and fought for a little while before she lost consciousness. The sharp pain soon started to fade as she sank into deep slumber…

* * *

><p>She woke few hours or few minutes later, she couldn't quite figure how much time had passed, and an angry Enzo was what she heard.<p>

"…. Wasn`t part of the deal, Michel!" he screamed.

"Mind your bloody tone boy!" yelled the man.

Caroline`s world spun around. Michel… it was Michel who abducted her! Klaus` father… The monster they had brought to Mystic Falls to destroy Klaus. A monster they awakened… How stupid had they been back then! Thinking that Klaus was the greatest evil… Granted, he was evil, but only to protect his own… Only to secure his family`s well being… He was forced to be evil, he was forced to act like the devil in disguise. And sometimes, with what he did, they – she – had believed it might be true… But truth be told, this man was the source of evil. Michel was the reason for Klaus` monstrous behavior. What the hell could he want from her?

_People who do terrible things, are just terrible people… _she had said to him.

_Why don't you find someone less terrible you can relate to…_was his reply the next day.

She didn`t get it then, but now she did, as she thought about it... It was his way of telling her that he wanted to be good, that he wanted to be in the light… His way of showing her that just like she had killed the witches to protect her friend, he would kill the entire planet if it meant protecting his family. How stupid was she for not understanding then… for hurting him…

"Father, Enzo is right… The girl is not to be harmed… Nicklaus will be-"

"Dead, by tomorrow!" yelled the man. "I have the white oak stake, he has nothing but stupidity and weaknesses, the only reason I`m even keeping this girl alive is to lure him in… well, that and she tastes deliciously…"

Caroline tried to hear more and she heard footsteps coming toward her. She backed away till she hit the iron bars which burned her, but she didn`t care. She preferred to be burned a thousand times than to be used as a blood bag… again…

"Oh, you`re awake!" Michel said enthusiastically as he came into view. "Finally, I was itching for a bite!"

Suddenly Enzo was right behind him, grabbing him from the neck.

"Don't you dare touch her!" he hissed from behind him.

Michel made a fast move leaning down while making Enzo fall in the floor in front of him with a huge crack. He took a wooden stake out and made a move to kill him.

"No!" Caroline screamed.

A chanting sounded in the room and the stake flew away from Michel`s hands. He was quick to retrieve it though. And he glared at Kol who slowly stepped into the room.

"We had a deal, Michel…" he said angrily. "You kill Klaus and Klaus only…"

"What?! No!" Caroline`s broken voice sounded through the bars. "No… No you can`t, Kol you can`t betray Klaus like this again… You said you wouldn't-"

"SILENCE!" Michel yelled at her direction… "I think it`s time to put you to sleep again…" he said hiding the stake behind him and nearing the cage.

Caroline`s eyes widened while Enzo made a move to attack the man again. Kol snapped his fingers and he dropped unconscious on the ground.

"Sorry mate…" said Kol. "But better temporarily dead now, than permanently dead! You can thank me later…"

"Don`t touch me!" yelled Caroline punching Michel in the face through the bars. They were tight and burned her but she ignored the pain. Michel was prepared though; he caught her fist before it could land on his face. Caroline smiled and landed a kick on his… well, on the "sensitive territory".

Michel cursed and spitted while backing down a few steps. But he was a vampire and a fighter; he had endured much more painful situations in his life. The only reason he had felt it in the first place was because he was surprised. He recovered within a second, sooner than Caroline would like.

"Well, well…" he said at Caroline`s frown smiling. "She has spunk! Much better than the last one…"

Kol gave her, what looked like a sympathetic look, knowing very well what would`ve follow. She wasn`t looking at him though, her glare was fixated on Michel.

"She`s a fighter, Kol… Look at her…" he gestured at her with his hand and licked his lips disgustingly. "Unfortunately, you`re in need of a lesson, _you _need to know how to treat elders…What do you say Kol?! Should we teach her, the Michelson's ways?"

"Leave her alone father…" said Kol looking away. He knew what the result of talking to his father this way would be. But she hated seeing this girl treated that way. He would never admit it but he did like her. Actually he more than just liked her, he respected her. And there were even less people he respected than the people he loved.

"What`s the matter boy?! Not up for a game?!" Michel laughed and it sounded awful. "You`ve got softer over the years son… Never mind… I`ll teach this insolent child a lesson by myself…"

Before he had finished his sentence he was behind her grabbing her waist from behind and pinning her on the bars. Her flesh burned making the contact with vervain. She was tired and weak, she hadn`t fed for days and was weakened by vervain for two days now… But she summoned all her strength not to scream, knowing that her painful screams would satisfy him. She bite her lower lip so hard it bled, tears started gathering in her eyes. But no sound left her lips. She held her head high and even managed to smile.

"My, my…" said Michel astonished while letting her go and rounding the cage so he could see her face. Caroline stepped away from the bars standing in the middle of the cage. She smiled venomously when his face came into view watching his eyes widen. She knew that if she broke down, she would disappoint Klaus, and he would find a way to insult him.

"Resilient aren`t you?!" he said.

"Maybe you`ve lost your touch old man!" her voice was low and provoking.

Kol rose an eyebrow at her direction, she shouldn`t provoke his father, not like that, not if she wanted to live anyway.

To his surprise Michel laughed.

"Oh, sweetheart… I haven`t even started touching you yet…" he said spitting the word like it was a curse instead of endearment.

Caroline took a step forward grabbing the bars and pushing her face as close to his as she could while trying to ignore the pain. She was proud of herself, she didn`t even flinch.

"Bring it on…" she almost mouthed. If he wasn`t a vampire, he wouldn`t be able to hear it.

Something in this girl`s audacity provoked him and he cracked. He was an impulsive man above all and he easily lost control when his authority was questioned. Wonder who Klaus picked this from…

He opened the cage in an instance and grabbed her from her blond locks. Caroline tried to dodge and kicked at the same tame like she did before. Only this time Michel was expecting her and dodged her blow at the precise time. He then turned her around to face him while smiling.

"Not bad, little girl…" he spited out. "But I don`t fall for the same mistakes twice…"

"Well, then it`s a good thing that I don`t repeat the same moves twice!"She said before heating his forehead with hers. She then kicked his ankles with her right foot… he didn`t flinch… She immediately grabbed his face wanting to crush his eyes with her fingers. Michel grabbed her wrists and removed them with the same easy gesture as you remove a fly…

"Nice moves…" he said still smiling. "But that doesn`t change the fact that you, like Nicklaus, are weak and pathetic when it comes to a fight with me…"

"Father, I have to go… I need to be at the compound or Klaus will get suspicious…" Kol said not looking at Caroline. He hated leaving her with him but he had no choice. "Try not to kill her… we`ll be needing her…"

With these words he inwardly wished Caroline good luck, took Enzo and flashed away.

Michel didn`t care about what his son had to say or the deal he made with his wife… This girl offered him the most excited game ever… the fact that his bastard son craved her only made thing even better… Until his arrival, he would enjoy playing with the blond girl… Oh yes he would enjoy this…

"You are the weak one old man!" Whispered the blond vampire, she was too afraid that her voice might crack if she spoke louder.

She felt the white oak digging in her thigh as the monster smiled at her.

"You were saying?"

She refused to show weakness. This man practically craved to see her in pain, to hear her screams, begs... She wouldn`t give him that satisfaction. She would stand her ground. She would do this… for him… It was the least she could do…

"I was saying that you`re a dickhead!" she spitted out laughing hysterically. "You think you set a trap for Klaus?!" another laugh. "You`ll fail, you will always fail… He will kill you again and you`ll-"

Michel didn't let her finish. He slapped her with enough force to send her flying towards the other dungeons. She fell on the ground cracking a leg.

"Your hands are soft like feather, old man!" she said spitting blood aside. She forced herself to smile and stand up just to endure another blow… This happened several times… she used every sharp object she could find in the room and managed a few good blows herself… She made him bleed several times, hoping that she could wear him off enough before Klaus came... She could handle the pain, and she did manage to injure the man. But his injuries weren`t even close to hers and she was healing really slow.

Michel strike again… and again… and again, until she couldn`t manage to stand up.

"Foolish girl!" he spited out. "You think that you could FIGHT ME?!" he yelled.

_Wow, he has his son`s temper… _she thought.

She laughed at her observation.

"For someone who hates Klaus so much…" she gasped. "… You are so much like him… Except, you`re weaker…"

It was Michel`s time to laugh.

"You`re not gonna break down, are you little girl?!"

"Not in this century…" she whispered weakly. "Not… while I`m… still breathing…"

"Look at you…" he said venomously. "You`re so weak! You can`t even speak… Surrender and I might consider showing you mercy… Say the words and your suffering might be over."

"Well, I have two words for you old man…" she said with difficulty. "FUCK YOU!"

He tsked her several times before taking a step closer.

"This is not the way for a lady to speak…" he scolded while putting aside the white oak. "Perhaps it`s time to put you in your place… I am, after all, grate at teaching lessons…" at his last words he undid his belt. "Just ask Nicklaus…"

"Sorry to break it to you old man, but you failed at every lesson you ever wanted to teach Klaus… You`re a monster… And he`s far better a man you could ever be…" she managed to say right before the belt crushed to her back.

"MICHEL! COME OUT AND FACE ME YOU COWARD!" yelled Nicklaus as he neared the dungeons. His rage was radiating off of him, he could feel it`s waves slowly coming out.

* * *

><p>"IS THIS REALLY YOU <em>FATHER<em>?! AFTER SO MANY CENTURIES HAVE YOU REALLY TURNED INTO A COWARD WHO`S HIDING BEHIND A GIRL?!" he kept on yelling until he saw his father coming out from the iron door. The others had reached him by that time. But Klaus didn`t care about anything than the limp girl into his father`s hands. She was exhausted, covered in blood and… beaten…

"What did you do?!" his voice echoed into the silenced woods. Everybody stood still, no one could move. They just listened the hybrids angry voice happy that his anger wasn`t directed to them.

"Come now, Nicklaus…" said Michel amused. "Don`t be angry, I was just playing…"

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" he yelled suddenly startling everyone around him. Everyone but Michel…

The man only smiled before answering.

"I tasted her… She`s… Delicious!" said Michel licking a little blood from her neck…

Caroline`s laugh startled everyone… Klaus, who was ready to attack after his father's unforgiveable admitting, froze looking at her again.

She murmured something while smiling… Something none of them could truly understand…

"What was that?!" said Michel laughingly.

Caroline murmured something and Michel laughed. But this time her words made senesce and everyone froze expecting Michel`s reaction.

"Still holding on huh?!" he murmured back.

"You`re still the weak one!" was what she was saying. "You will never brake me… or him…"

"I already did broke you… as I will him…" he responded.

"You broke my body…" she whispered still smiling. "My soul… is… still… whole… you will-never-win!"

"Let her go!" it was Damon who spoke this time... The others were too dumbstruck to do so.

Michel threw Caroline forward and Klaus hurried to catch her. Only then did he saw her back. It was messy and full with bloody in the places where the belt had bitten hard enough to cut the flesh…

"You bitted her?!" Elijah`s voice was full with disgust.

"You`re gonna pay for hurting her!" Klaus yelled as he stroke the girl`s bloody locks murmuring hushing words. "Your death will be epic, I promise!"

"Nonsense!" said Michel still smiling. "I just taught her a little lesson!"

"Well maybe it`s time I teach you a lesson too _father_!" said Klaus venomously as he carefully handed the girl to Elena and Stefan. "Don`t hurt what`s mine!"

"Klaus…" Caroline whispered before he could turn towards his father. Klaus looked immediately giving her his attention. "Kick his ass for me, will you?!"

He smiled at her words and kissed her forehead before turning toward his arch enemy. He would`ve never turned his back to his enemy if he didn`t trusted that his brothers and practically everyone there had his back…

"I am not your father _**boy**_!" yelled the man.

"Of course, you`re not!" Klaus spitted back. "I`ve met my father, he`s much nicer than you could ever be… He was a man, you`re a minion…"

At that Michel lost control and attacked Klaus fought him, alone at first. Everyone understood that they had to let him fight Michel alone. He hadn`t said anything out loud but it was like an unspoken order, an unwritten law that the two men should collide only with each other. Klaus took his stake easily and drove it several times into his stomach when it was clear that he had won the rest of his brothers stepped in taking their turn to torture him. After they were finished, Klaus took over and just before Michel could manage to say anything about Kol`s alliance with him, he drove the stake into his heart so deeply that the hilt was almost buried in his chest. Klaus stood back admiring his handiwork and smiling as he screamed while he burned. He enjoyed it way too much. He even wished he had a camera to imprint the moment. But he didn`t needed one. He would never forget this wonderful moment. It was one of the bests in his life…

After Michel was nothing but ashes, he rushed over to collect Caroline from her friends` hands conspicuously ignoring their protests. He scooped her into his arms and kissed her on her forehead again not caring that the rest of them were watching.

"It`s ok, love… You`re safe now…" he said walking at a human pace too afraid that a faster pace would hurt her.

If it was up to him he would force her to feed his blood. But it was a privet thing and he knew she wouldn`t be pleased if he did it...

"You did it! You killed him!" she murmured exhausted. "I knew you would… I tried Klaus, I tried to wear him off while… I… I thought I did but then he drunk my… my blood and he was stronger…"

"Shhh, hush now love…" he whispered. "I`m here… Nothing like this will happen to you again, I swear…"

"I tried…" she mumbled again drifting away in a light slumber. "I tried to break him… I tried to protect you… to be brave for you…"

"You did, love… You were brave and fierce… amazing and stunning as always…" said Klaus not fully believing she spoke consciously. Did she really mean that? Did she fight Michel, for him?!

* * *

><p>Klaus laid her on his bed in the compound while barking orders to the nightwalkers. He ordered to bring in a human to feed the girl, but Stefan intervened.<p>

"She`ll only drink from a blood bag!" Stefan insisted.

"Get out of my way, ripper!" he ordered getting annoyed by his interference. "She needs blood from the vein, she`s too weak…"

"She needs to feed Stefan!" said Enzo while stoking her hair.

Klaus was glaring at his hand on her face but Enzo ignored him.

"I can find someone from the street…" he offered.

Klaus was still glaring at him but he agreed.

"No!" said Stefan getting in the way again but Klaus had had enough of him. In a typical evil-hybrid slash original Klausy way he snapped his neck.

"There, that will silence him…" he said while making his way to stand close to the girl.

"What is wrong with you?!" Elena yelled at him and received a dangerous glare.

Damon picked his brother to put him on the chair gently.

The five of them were in Klaus` bedroom. Tyler had left the minute Caroline was rescued and Michel was dead, disgusted by the two of them… Klaus` sibling were somewhere in the house. Marcel went for a petrol, the witches headed to Ester`s house to discuss a treaty and Hayley was barking orders to her wolfs.

"Well, not that I agree with all the snapping-my-brother`s-neck-thing, but actually, I think Klaus is right…" Damon said.

"Of course you do!" Elena said crossing her hands on her chest while glaring at him.

"Elena…"

"No, it`s fine… By all means, go on, take his side, side with the devil!" she said angrily. "Enjoy a good villain bonding, I mean… Maybe if Michel hadn`t die you could use some time to share all the memories you got from Caroline…"

"Shut up Elena!" Damon yelled at last tired of her constant accusations. "I love you, but if you don`t shut your mouth I swear to god I will snap your neck right now!"

"If both of you won`t shut both of your mouths in the next five seconds I will snap both of your necks!" Klaus growled and they indeed went silent.

Klaus noted the intensity between them but made no comment. He didn`t cared about their stupid problems. He cared about making Caroline feel comfortable and their fight was making her tense.

Elena sat close to her best friend`s side glaring at Damon and Klaus.

The sound of Caroline`s weak and heavy breathing filled the silent room. Klaus was getting impatient with any passing second. He started walking the room up and down. Pouring a drink and emptying it several times. He looked at the clock at least thousand times and complained about the incapability of new vampires to find food.

"If he`s not here in a minute I`m snapping both of you necks and forcing my blood down her throat!" he growled.

"You know she`ll hate you for that, don't you?!" said Elena disgusted.

"I don`t care, she`ll be alive…" he murmured more to himself than to anyone else… "Besides I`ve done worse and she`d forgiven me… I think she`ll forgive me saving her life…"

"Relax, he`ll be here…" said Damon while leaning casually in a doorframe.

Enzo returned soon with a girl and they fed Caroline. The girl of course was healed and compelled to forget everything and go on with her life. Caroline healed in a matter of minutes and scolded Klaus for snapping her best friend`s neck and not giving her a blood bag.

"You can hate me all you want love, but I`m glad you`re alive…" he said stroking her chick again and getting in Enzo`s way while he tried to go near her.

Her heart melted at his words but said nothing in front of her friends.

After a short and fuzzy conversation about what happened that night and a pissed off ripper waking to see her friends laughing at Michel`s reaction when Klaus staked him, Klaus demanded from everyone to leave his room and let Caroline sleep. Of course there were some arguments about Caroline staying in the compound and in his room…

"I`m not letting you out of my sight again, love!" he declared and threatened everyone to leave before he decided to compel the lot of them to do so, or even better, before he snapped everyone's necks.

Caroline finally sighted, knowing his stubbornness and asked her friends to leave reassuring them that she would be just fine…

"I`ll give you five minutes to change." he said to Caroline once alone, attempting to leave the room.

"Klaus…?" she called after him and he immediately turned to look at her. "…Thank you."

He nodded not knowing what else to say and left the room.

Klaus stood in front of the canvas, his paintbrush still in his right hand clean and uninspiring, just like his mind felt empty and blank. He was waiting for an idea, an inspiration, just like the canvas was waiting patiently to be colored. It was frustrating watching it looking back at him expectantly when he had nothing to offer… He had spend the last night painting his father`s downfall while watching over Caroline's sleeping form… it was so odd and yet so familiar an nice to watch her sleeping in his bed… he so much wanted to be with her… feel her warmth, touch her…

A knocking on the door woke him from his unconscious slumber and his disappointment over the lack of inspiration faded away like the light was slowly fading outside his window… A smile spread unconsciously on his face as he felt her presence. All his previous annoyance seemed to disappear once he smelled her scent…

"Caroline…" he whispered still smiling while he put the paintbrush aside to face the girl. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

The painting was long forgotten when he took her appearance in. His breath almost caught as he saw the beautiful blond girl leaning hesitantly on the doorframe. The last glimpses of sunlight were playing beautifully with her wonderful features, making her seem like she had just jumped out straight from a fairy tale, in which she would most definitely be the mesmerizing princess. Obviously the sun adored her as much as he did, and wanted to spend even the last remaining daylight looming over her face, enjoying and at the same time envying her light. A light that shone in the abyss-like darkness, attracting everything in its direction. She was the kind of girl, kings declared war for. And he had every intention to do so if he had to…

She had never looked more beautiful than she did in this moment. With her hair around her face, her green-blue eyes conflicted and hesitant, her fingers playing with each other, a nervous gesture, he realized… Klaus looked down and shook his head exasperated. Live it to Caroline to inspire you in desperate times with only her mere presence in the same room… It was amazing that after being his muse for all this time, she could still give him new ideas and inspirations…

"I`m sorry, I didn`t mean to disturb you…" she said clearly misunderstanding his gesture. "You know what? I`ll come back later, it`s not important anyway…"

"Don`t be ridiculous, love!" Klaus said sighting annoyed when the girl turned to leave. "You`re never a disturbing company…"

"But you were…" she stared to say confused while gesturing to the canvas.

"I wasn`t doing anything that can`t wait if it means having you in my room now…"

Caroline took a few steps inside the room with an awkward smile on her face. Klaus sat on one of the black leather armchairs and pointed her to sit on the one opposite him.

"Right…" she murmured as she sat lost in thoughts.

A few seconds of awkward silence passed before any of them spoke.

"Go on love… I`m all ears…" Klaus said leaning back to the leather armchair.

"I know it`s just…" she said making a nervous gesture with her head while laughing half heartedly. "This is a lot harder than I thought it would be…"

Klaus tilted his head on one side while looking at her amused by her nervousness.

"You`re here to apologize, aren't you?" he guessed not losing his smile just yet.

"And to thank you…" she said still looking at her fingers. "You know, from saving me, again… even if I didn`t deserved to be saved…"

"Caroline…" he said with a sight and leaned forward but she stopped him raising a hand.

"No, let me finish…" she said stubbornly while finding the courage to look him in the eyes. "I need to say this Klaus. I know you don`t owe me to listen but, please, just let me finish…

"I`m sorry… I know it`s not nearly enough to satisfy your anger and believe me it`s not nearly enough to describe how I feel… It`s like a part of me was ripped from my chest… Like someone else took possession of my body and mind… like something get into me and made me do all these horrible things…"

Klaus went silent for a moment. Measuring everything she had said wondering how much exactly she meant by "all the horrible things".

"But Elijah was right…" Caroline smiled weakly as Klaus raised his eyebrows. "We had a little talk when you were away…"

"And what did mighty Elijah said?" Klaus replied faking indifference but having every intention of killing his brother for the next century if he had done something he considered wrong.

"It doesn`t matter…" she muttered. "What matters is that I`ve been stubborn and selfish and unworthy… yes you`ve done terrible things, yes you`ve killed many of us but so did we… Finn, Kol… We killed them and we tried to kill you, and you showed us mercy, in your own twisted way… Because of me… For me… And how did I repay you?!"

"Caroline…" he started saying but was interrupted by the shake of her head.

She looked right into his eyes as if letting him to look into her soul and will him to understand. She needed him to understand…

She kneeled in front of him, her hands on his knees, her eyes piercing his shocked eyes, her lips dry.

"Caroline what are you doing?!"

"I`m so sorry…" she said with watered eyes. "I am so, so sorry for everything I did to… to help that bitch! I`m sorry that I hurt Camille, that I tried to hurt your daughter, you… God! I don`t even know what to apologize for first…"

"Get up love…" he said stroking gently her face with his hand, his face mere centimeters away from hers.

"No, I`m not gonna get up until you tell me what I have to do to make it up to you…" she whispered.

"Caroline, I have forgiven you the moment you turned your humanity switch on." He said mildly. "Now, get up! Kneeling doesn`t suit you, love. You`re a queen, queens don`t beg for mercy…"

"I`m not begging for your mercy, I`m begging for your forgiveness… I know the only way you forgive is if you punish the traitor… Well, I betrayed you…. I`ll except every punishment you have in store for me… I won`t ask you to show me mercy…"

Klaus looked at her not quite believing that she was telling the truth. And in that moment he figured something out, something he wasn`t quite aware of until then… she was trying to be loyal… not to her friends, not to her family – he knew that already – she was trying to be loyal to him, in exactly the way he wanted her to be. The way he needed her too be… She did know him more than well enough. Actually she knew him better than he knew himself, because until that moment he didn`t even knew he needed this: her, apologizing, kneeling in front of him, excepting his punishment, recognizing his authority the way no one did… ever. He had punished his siblings many times and none of them seemed to understand why they`d been punished. None of them apologized or considered they deserved to be punished. None of them truly understand his need for control. None, except this young beautiful creature.

Or maybe he was reading too much into it…

"Why are you telling me this love?!" he asked skeptically. "Aren`t you supposed to hate me?! Why are you apologizing to me?"

Caroline looked down, cheeks flushed red.

"Because I betrayed you?" it sounded more like a question than an answer. "Because I know you need to do this… I know you won`t be able to trust me again… and I need you to trust me…"

"Why?" he asked narrowing his eyes.

Caroline only looked down…

"Why, love?"

Silence was all he got…

"Caroline…" Klaus said warningly, inches away from her face.

She closed her eyes as if that way she could will her shame to leave her.

"I… I can`t tell you…" she said still eyes closed as her body shivered under his touch.

Klaus sighed.

"Should I compel it out of you then?"

Her eyes shoot right back up and Klaus felt guilty for the panic he saw in them.

"You wouldn`t…" her voice was weak and uncertain while it broke several times… "Would you?"

Klaus went silent thinking about it for a bit…

"No, love, I wouldn`t, relax…" he said finally and meant it. "But I _would _like to know why…"

"I guess I'll have to tell you this at some point…" she muttered more to herself than to Klaus. "I want your forgiveness because… when my emotions were off… not everything I did was… fake…"

She barely got the words out. Klaus smirked inwardly, not every day you saw Caroline Forbs making a love confession at the state of her knees in front of you. Yes, he was enjoying it and he could barely hide it.

"I… I am attracted to you… as you very well know…" she said stealing a quick glance at him and already regretting her words when she saw his self satisfied smirk.

Caroline was on her feet in nanoseconds attempting to get up and leave immediately.

"You`re unbelievable!" she scoffed and turned around.

She didn't managed to take two steps before Klaus` lips crushed hers forcing her to response his fierce kiss. She didn`t had much of a choice – not that she minded at all – than to give in, melting into his iron grip and tender lips.

"Go on love…" he whispered on her lips after a few seconds while trailing kisses towards her neck.

"I…" she whispered out of breath.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"I… wanted to be with… with you and when we had… when we…"

"Made love?" he asked pulling slightly away to push some blond locks behind her ear and look into her eyes.

"What?!" she asked surprised blinking rapidly.

"I said…"

"I heard you I just…" she said blushing and blinking at the same time.

"What is it, love?" Klaus asked really intrigued by her behavior.

"Nothing it`s just…Well most of the guys I dated would refer to it as simply having sex, rather than… making love…" she whispered the words looking down again.

Klaus held her jaw and forced her to look up at him. His eyes sliced into hers searching for any sign of deception and when he found none he spoke.

"Well, that`s one of the reasons you should date me, love! I will never be afraid of telling you how amazing you truly are." he said waiting a nasty reply.

Instead Caroline said:

"Well, as it is… I would love that!"

It was Klaus` time to blink. Did she just say that?! Was this for real? Or was it some sort of a dream?

"Sorry love, I don`t quite understand did you say-?"

Caroline rolled her eyes and leaned in to shush him with a sweet, tender kiss.

"Why do you think I came begging for your forgiveness?" she said out of breath after she finally pulled back. "I want to fix things between us and I need to know if I can… I finally know what I want Klaus… And I want you… I want to be with you, I want to spend the eternity with you… if you still want me, that is…"

Klaus shook his head grinning from ear to ear.

"Always…" he murmured.

"Ok, but I want you to promise me something…" Klaus raised a brow at that. "When you get bored of me…"

He started to say something and she cut him off by raising her voice and correcting the word.

"_If _you get bored of me…"

"Never…" he whispered pulling her closer, crushing her body desperately to his.

"Okay, but if you do… Can you please warn me awhile before you dump me? So I`d be prepared?"

Klaus made an angry sound at that.

"What?" she asked intrigued.

"You don`t understand do you?" he whispered to her ear.

"Understand what?"

"When you are as old as I am, you don`t find eternal love easily… You don`t fell in love, you don`t care enough to value someone that much, Caroline... But if it happens, it`s forever… It`s why you have to choose carefully love, this is a lifetime commitment… If _you _are the one that gets bored, you won`t be able to walk away… I won`t let you…"

She should be frightened about his threat but Caroline couldn`t help but feel a little too excited about it...

"So… did you jut practically admitted that you love me?!" she said giggling.

Klaus smiled locking her eyes inside his.

"You`re a smart girl… Haven`t you figured that out yet? I mean it`s practically a public knowledge…"

"Well I`ve never heard you say it…"

"I won`t ever say that I love you, Caroline…" He said smirking. "But I will always show you that I do…"

Caroline's smile widened.

"You just said it!"

"Did what?!"

"Said that you love me…"

"No I did not!"

"Yes you did! You said I won`t say… _**'I love you'**_, you actually said the words…"

"Well, practically, I meant…"

And so they went on arguing… Caroline loved to tease him and Klaus love to watch her smile turn into a soft laughter. Her eyes widening and sparkling like diamonds… He loved her, there was not denying that. He also was ready to tell her that he did, but he knew she was not ready to hear it. No matter what she said she was still too young to understand what true love meant when it came to _forever_.

* * *

><p>"Mother..." said Kol entering the room.<p>

Ester simply nodded at him acknowledging his presence.

"You want to collect I guess..." she said.

Kol simply smiled.

"All right, what is it that you want?"

"It`s quite simple really..." said the youngest Michelson. "I want you to bring someone back..."

"Whom? And back from where?! The other side is..."

"She`s not from the other side mother, she`s lost..."

"Who is she?" Ester asked really curious.

"A dear friend... I`m afraid she got lost in time..." said Kol smiling wickedly. "Bonnie Bennett..."

* * *

><p><strong>Ok, that`s it for now... Marry Christmas to everyone!<strong>

**I hope you liked the chapter!  
>Please Review to let me know about your opinions...<strong>

**Regards, T.J.**


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